To Answer It's Call
by kehkanSKlover
Summary: It's the end of the Battle City Tournament and Kaiba is about to blow up the island, until something else distracts them. A bright flash and a faint cry whiskes them away to a land of mysterious creatures and adventure beyond belief eventual SetoXSerenity
1. Chapter 1

**First off, I'm really sorry for not posting on schedule, was down the entirety of the day. I posted this as soon as I could. I apologize again.  
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**Ok, so crossover between Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon, My childhood is showing... Anyways, I don't think this story will be that successful, but heck, I want to write it. The story takes place just after battle city, which is my favorite place to start a Yu Gi Oh fic. The pokemon side of this uses the pokemon universe, but Ash's plot doesn't come into this. It's more like the pokemon game. **

**I do not own Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. There. Disclaimers out of the way.**

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To Answer It's Call

Chapter 1

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"Great Job Yugi!" Tristan and Joey cried, running up to the boy. Mokuba gave him a slight cheer, but was careful not to over do it in front of his brother who was brooding over him. The rest of the gang moved towards the new champion and cheered for him, finally making Kaiba snap.

"Enough celebrating, this tournament is over. You all have one hour to get off the island before this place blows." He called, making them all halt in place. A few of them opened their mouths to say something but the earth trembled beneath them, silencing everyone momentarily.

"I thought you said we had an hour!" Joey cried, trying to steady himself and his sister.

"This isn't me." Kaiba said, thoroughly confused. A sudden flash of a warm pale purple light engulfed them and the last thing any of them heard was a faint noise that resembled a kitten's cry.

When Kaiba finally came to he was in a forest. He shot up and looked around, finding his little brother next to him and the rest of the group sprawled across the forest floor.

"Mokuba." He called, gently shaking the boy awake. He grumbled but sat up. Once he was sure Mokuba was alright, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Grrr, no reception..." Some shifting grabbed his attention as the Wheeler girl stirred.

"What... happened?" She asked as she rose, looking around the area. She spotted Kaiba and looked at the boy who was still waking. Her eyes glazed over her unconscious friends and found her brother. "Joey! Joey wake up." She roused him and they went around waking the others up. Kaiba checked the area, looking for any sign of a path or town. There was nothing.

"Where the hell did you take us Kaiba!" Joey yelled, moving around the rest of them.

"I didn't take us anywhere, you mongrel. Did you really expect me to place myself this far out in the wilderness without any contacts or way to get back? I'm not a moron like you." He sneered, continuing to scan the forest. A rustling nearby grabbed everyone's attention and a light hum began to fill the trees around them.

"Wh-What is that?" Tea asked, looking around and backing towards the center of their clearing.

"Over there!" Yugi pointed out, pushing their collective attentions to a swarm of giant bees. The bees saw them as well and began swooping down on them. They ran for it, chased into a direction not of their choosing. The bees were relentless. Kaiba slowed his gate, falling to the back while everyone else scrambled to get away. He swatted at the creatures, knocking back two before catching up to the rest of them.

"Get in the water!" He called as they came to a river. Everyone dove in, dodging the bees and trying to get away. They swam downstream until the bees left and finally trudged out, soaked to the bone.

"What were those things?" Tea asked, completely out of breath. No one had ever seen anything like it before.

"We need to get out of the forest. Who knows what else is hiding in here." Yugi said, trying to look for an end to the forest's walls. Suddenly a screech notified them to something behind them. A large brown furry rat, ten times the size of any they had ever seen before stood rearing to attack. Before long, more scurried from the forest floor, gathering behind it and slowly advancing.

"I think runnin's the priority here Yug!" Joey shouted, leading the others in the opposite direction from the rats. They ran for over ten minutes, completely exhausted from the chases and came to the end of the forest. They ran an extra distance from the forest into the field in front of them before stopping and collapsing.

"What's with the animals here! They're all freakishly huge!" Joey shouted before pausing and the color drained from his face. "You don't think... Giants live here do you?" He glanced between them all worriedly.

"You're an idiot." Kaiba said plainly and Joey jumped up, pointing a finger at him.

"Hey! It's a legitimate concern!" Kaiba rolled his eyes and turned towards the forest. The large rats had followed them out of the forest, but were now turning and heading back.

"Hey, What are you doing here?" A voice called, pulling their attention to a young boy. "Don't you know it's dangerous to go off the path without at least one pokemon to protect you?" He wore thick glasses, a khaki shirt and khaki shorts.

"Pokemon?" Most of the group asked in unison.

"Uh... yeah... The creatures in the woods and grass and... everywhere..." He said confusedly. He looked across the group as if they were aliens.

"We're not from around here." Yugi tried, but continued to get the same looks.

"But... Pokemon live everywhere. There's no place that they aren't." The boy said. The group looked between them.

"Where is it safe?" Kaiba finally said, sick of waiting for them to think of something.

"Well, Pallet town is just south of here. If you don't know about pokemon, Professor Oak has a research center there." He said, starting off in a direction and waving them to follow. There was a small village just past the field and they could see a large building just on the edge of it that they presumed was the research center.

"Hello, Simon, who are your friends?" The aging man asked with a smile, looking over the group.

"They say they're not from around here. They don't seem to know what pokemon are either." The boy said incredulously.

"Don't know what pokemon are? You must be from a distant land indeed!" Professor Oak exclaimed. "To have never heard of pokemon... Well, I guess I can help you. Pokemon are the creatures that inhabit this place other than humans. We train them, breed them and on occasion, battle them to show one's strength, character, and strategic prowess. They can be the most loving of friends and the most powerful allies.

"They come in all shapes and sizes and have a wide range of powers and specialties. Normally when someone wants to train a pokemon, they come to me and I give them their first to train with. Unfortunately you came out of the blue and I didn't have time to contact the breeders that would give me the starter pokemon for you, so you may have to go out and find them yourself. It's much more difficult that way.

"What I can do for you, though is give you pokeballs and a special belt to hold them." He showed them a container of small balls with a diameter of about a half dollar.

"What are they for?" Tea picked one up and looked at it closer, but jumped back and dropped it as it grew in her hand.

"Heh, they're for catching the pokemon. All you need to do is throw the ball at it. The button here will glow red as the pokemon struggles to break free, and when it turns white again, the pokemon is yours. I suggest you make friends with the pokemon first, as they can break out of the pokeball if they struggle too much and it's much more difficult to train them if they don't like you to start with." He said, clicking the little button and returning it to it's smaller size.

"Sounds... kinda fun." Joey said taking one of the balls and making it grow and shrink over and over.

"It's not a toy." Professor Oak said, taking it away. "Raising and training a pokemon is a big responsibility. They are the most loyal creatures if you treat them with kindness and respect. If you just want to fight them and overwork them, they'll stop listening to you, or even worse, turn on you." He said sternly. "I'm not going to give these tools to someone who would abuse their pokemon."

"We would never do that!" Yugi cried. The rest of the group shook their heads in agreement as Mokuba glanced up at his brother who was watching and taking in all the information. Professor Oak smiled.

"I was hoping you would say that." He passed out six of the balls and a belt to each of them. They noted the belts had six slots on them, perfectly fit to hold the small contraptions. "You can keep up to six pokemon on you at any time. If you want to catch more, there are shops that sell pokeballs, and your extra pokemon will be sent to me here. You can use the PC at any pokecenter to switch out your pokemon at any time. You're also going to need identification. I don't have any pokedex's anymore, but I do have these travel ID's." He passed out the small silver colored contraptions. "Just enter your name and information during the set up process and you will be good to go."

After a brief explanation of what the pokecenters were and what a pokedex was, the group filled in their ID's and Professor Oak bid them farewell

"So... how do we get home?" Mokuba asked turning up to Kaiba.

"I'm not even sure if we're in the right world. They don't seem to be aware of a place without pokemon, so I doubt they'll be of any help to us. We need to find someone who can help. If that means playing their little game, then so be it. I'm always up for a challenge." He said fingering one of the pokeballs on his belt. The rest of the group nodded and glanced around town.

"So... where do we start?" Mai asked.

"You people can go anywhere you want. I've got a bone to pick with some bees." Kaiba said, starting for the forest.

"We should all probably stick together." Yugi said and they all jogged to catch up with him. He strolled boldly back into the forest, ready for anything now, and sought out anything that moved. He continued deeper into the forest when something caught his foot. He fell face first into the ground and turned to glare at what tripped him. A vine moved from his ankle and traveled the length of him to grab his arm as another went for his other leg.

"What the-" and then he saw it. A bundle of vines moving and squirming.

"Is that-" Yugi started but was cut off as another creature appeared, and this one was a sight to see. A large green creature with wings and two scythes as hands. The creature sliced forth, slashing at a vine, then flew towards the small bundle. Before long there were dozens of the bladed creatures, flying through the forest. "Get away from them, they're too dangerous!" Everyone scattered, being chased in random directions as six or seven creatures with razor sharp arms swung at them.

Finally safe from the creatures, Kaiba looked up at whoever had followed him. Just one girl panted beside him. The Wheeler girl. Great... but where was Mokuba? He could have sworn Mokuba was running in the same direction as him, so... were was he?

"We need to find the others." She said while looking around the forest. He couldn't agree more. He started back the way they were chased but something tugged on his arm. "We don't know if it's safe yet." She said as he looked back at her. He pulled his arm from her grip and glared at her.

"My little brother is out there. You stay if you want." He knew she wouldn't. She was weak. She needed him.

"You cant help him if you're hurt." She retorted, making him pause. Maybe there was an easier way. A less risky way... He started again, only heading in a slightly different direction.

"I'm going around. We'll meet up at the same place but we wont be traveling through the area they chased us through." He explained, certain she had no clue of his plan. She quietly followed along, which put him at ease. He was afraid she would be as loud as her brother. They traveled westward until they reached a creek, then followed it north.

"Char!" Serenity jumped up, bumping into Kaiba who stopped and they both turned to see three lizard like creatures by the edge of the water. There was one small one and two larger ones. The small one was being pushed towards the water by one of the larger ones while the other large one yawned and ignored them. Serenity noticed the flame on the end of their tails and how the small one cried and struggled to keep it's tail out of the water.

"Hey! Stop that!" She cried, rushing forward. She ran through the small creek and hugged the small one, shielding it from the larger lizard. A raised claw told her that it probably wasn't the best idea to come between the pokemon. Kaiba sighed as he strode over and placed himself in front of Serenity, staring menacingly at the creature. It froze, terrified of this new human's appearance and backed away, scampering into a small cave they hadn't seen before. The other larger lizard stood, watching Kaiba intently.

"Come on, we don't have time to waste on tiny lizards." He called, not waiting to see if she would actually follow. She smiled at the little one and gave it a short hug before rising and continuing behind the CEO.

They had to find their friends. This world was different. Different and dangerous.

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**So, First chappie down. And my first crossover, so be gentle. I know, I know, I'm like... 5. But I've been wanting to do this forever and I ran out of other ideas to write. I hope this turns out alright. **

**Don't forget to point out any typos and errors you see. I'll try my best to correct them. Looking forward to hearing your feedback, thanks!  
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**Read, Review, Enjoy~ Love Ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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Kaiba marched through the clearing where everyone stood when they were attacked. He could see the scuff marks when he was tripped and dragged a bit, and the footprints of the bladed pokemon that attacked them. Unfortunately the human footprints were scattered and varied, and he wasn't exactly skilled in that particular skill. He sighed frustratedly and glanced at Serenity. She was still scanning the footprints, unwilling to give up on finding the rest just yet. At least she was determined.

"There's three different directions they could have gone in." She said, pointing out the tracks. One led to the north and the other two to the northwest. Other than that, they couldn't determine who went where.

"We go north." Kaiba decided, heading down the beaten trail. Serenity followed and they wound around as the path did, trying to catch up with whoever made it. They looked like they were getting closer until Kaiba heard a gasp and the rattling of bushes. He turned to look at Serenity, but she was no longer there. He moved to where she was, but an ear piercing scream alerted him to her new location. The ground had crumbled away beneath her, forcing her down a steep hill and into a patch of thorny bushes.

He took a closer look and realized they weren't thorns at all, but large pincers of a large bug-like pokemon. They were all around her, as she fell right on top of them. She screamed again as one of them closed those large clamps onto her arm, cutting into her soft flesh. He steadied himself as he ran down the hill, kicking the one on her hard and forcing it to release her. She scrambled away and Kaiba remained between the group of them and her. He readied himself to fight, but the bushes behind him and her rattled loudly,forcing him to rethink hiss strategy. If they were surrounded it would be much harder to defend against. He glanced back and saw as two small lizards like the ones from before crept out. Actually... they were the same two.

The smaller one went straight to Serenity and poked at her injured arm. Serenity cringed, but forced a smile. The larger one placed itself next to Kaiba and looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what this little salamander could possibly do to help against the vice grip of the bug pokemon that vastly outnumbered it. The little one stepped forward, next to the big one and they shared a glance before the larger one nodded. Kaiba stepped back as the small one sucked in a breath and spewed a torrential flame across the offending pokemon while the larger one sprinted, circling the group of them and scorching them from the side.

They were using tactics, and superior firepower, and successfully managed to force the large group to flee. Kaiba looked back at Serenity with wide eyes. Were all of the creatures here brutally powerful? Serenity seemed just as shocked. The little one returned to her side and she gave it a warm hug. The larger one moved back to Kaiba's side, looking happy and proud.

"What... are you?" Kaiba said to the thing, but it only watched him. He smirked and reached for a pokeball. Serenity and the little one watched as Kaiba knelt before the salamander and held out the ball. The lizard looked at him for a moment and tapped the ball, willingly entering it and becoming his. He looked down at Serenity and she gave him a smile. The little lizard, after witnessing this, turned to Serenity, scanning her until it found what it wanted. Her own belt full of pokeballs, it reached up and fiddled with one of them, tapping the button it needed to and disappearing inside.

"I... guess we have our first pokemon." She said happily, looking down at the ball that it inhabited. Kaiba nodded, but there was no time to wait around. They had to move on. It wasn't long before they heard another rustling in the bushes and Kaiba reached to his belt and pulled out the pokeball with his new pokemon in it. He paused for a moment, unsure of exactly how to call the pokemon, but he figured it had something to do with the only button on the damned thing and pressed it.

The ball shook, freeing itself from his grip and falling to the ground. The button glowed red for a moment and then the little lizard appeared. It looked to Kaiba then forward where the bush was rustling. The little thing puffed itself up and bravely strode forth, parting the bushes and revealing the same kind of bug pokemon it had just burnt. It sucked in a breath and the thing jumped back, scared.

"What is it?" They heard a voice call, and the bug retreated. Serenity and Kaiba followed it and the voice until they saw who it was. Tristan stood with the bug pokemon cowering behind him. "Serenity!" He exclaimed, moving to her and grabbing her hands. "Are you alright? What happened to your arm? Where are the others?" He didn't give her any time to respond, let alone breathe. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Are you here alone?" He demanded, cutting to the point. Tristan looked up at him, then back at Serenity.

"You poor thing... stuck with Kaiba." Kaiba could feel the headache starting already. "I ran off alone. I was trying to pull them off the rest of you guys." He said, more serious now. Kaiba sighed and started back the way he came. Serenity gave Tristan a sweet smile and followed Kaiba, escorted by Tristan.

They made it almost half way back when they stumbled upon a small bird scratching at something under the earth. Once it noticed them it squawked angrily and took to the air. It swooped dangerously at Kaiba's head, but he dodged it easily. It was a ballsy little thing, trying to take him on. He knew he could probably just swat it out of the air, but he had a feeling the pokemon he now owned had been itching to do some battle. He nodded to it and it fired of a blazing cylinder, following the bird's every movement. The thing shrieked loudly, and dove at the lizard, barely missing it.

Finally, fire hit bird and the thing fell to the ground. Kaiba grabbed another pokeball and this time, threw it at the creature. The bird disappeared into the ball, and the red light lit. The ball shook a few times before coming to a rest and the red faded to white. He had caught his second pokemon. This was easy. He wondered why the Professor made such a big stink out of it. Before he could properly express his victory, the trees above him shifted. He could hear distant squawking and glanced around. There were ten... maybe twenty of them. They were everywhere. The birds began to swoop and dive, making Serenity scream out as they ran.

"Did you really have to piss that one off?" Tristan yelled as he made his way through the forest. Kaiba ignored him, trying to focus on things not to trip over. Tristan's lack of focus led him down the path Kaiba was avoiding and he took a dive. Serenity stopped, turning back to help him, but something was wrong. Kaiba slowed as he looked back. Something was wrong with Tristan's leg and Serenity couldn't lift him. Did he have to do everything himself? He shot back, grabbing Tristan under the arm and hoisting him up, but they didn't make it far before a gigantic stone snake circled them.

Serenity moved to Kaiba and Tristan, to scared to try anything else. The snake batted the birds out of the air easily, creating a barrier around them.

"Hey, you ok?" someone called from beyond the snake. It did a good enough job swatting away the birds, that they left, leaving the forest in a state of false peace. A boy climbed over one of the massive rocks making up the snake's body and jumped down to where they all stood. "Hey, I'm Brock. You guys looked like you needed some help."

"Hey, Thanks a lot. Wow... Is that your pokemon?" Tristan said, now able to balance without putting much pressure on his leg. Kaiba was happy to be rid of him and brushed himself off.

"Yeah, this is Onix." Brock said, putting his hand on the pokemon and smiling up at it. He turned back to the group but paused. In a split second he was in front of Serenity. "Hi... What's your name?" He said, almost creepily.

"Se-Serenity..." She said, trying to be polite. Kaiba rolled his eyes and turned away, now able to see Tristan visibly twitch. "We're... new to this area." She tried to explain.

"Makes sense. Normally people don't go this deep into the forest. The Spearow are really territorial, as you've seen. That and it's crawling with bug pokemon that have something to prove." He said, glancing around. Serenity did the same, but was relieved to see nothing threatening. "Hey, why don't we go to Pewter city? I have a gym there." He said, moving to the north.

"We have friends still stuck in here." Kaiba informed him.

"Well, why don't we get you guys safe and I can have my trainers search for them? They're more experienced with this area and have pokemon that easily overcome the ones that live here." He offered, Serenity looked to Kaiba for confirmation. He seemed conflicted. He knew he had some pretty good pokemon... or at least he thought he did. He glanced up at the giant rock snake again and hung his head. They could do more for Mokuba than he could right now, so he just had to let them. He nodded and Brock led them to the North and out of the woods.

"This is my place." He said, moving to a large wooden building. They could see inside people were moving around and peering out the windows. "Hey, Come on out, I need some help!" Brock called and the people inside rushed to greet the visitors. Nine children ran out the door, greeting their guide with a massive group hug. "Okay, Okay, Settle down, we've got an injury here." He said, and the kids lined up, ready for instructions. "Timmy, I need a splint. Cindy, can you get me some gauze? Suzie there's some pain killers in the cabinet over the sink. And Forrest, I need you to help me set it." Brock helped Tristan over to the picnic table in the yard and sat hi down, sizing up his hurt leg.

"Wow, you all live here together?" Serenity asked in amazement. Brock smiled while being handed the splint and working to help Tristan.

"Yeah, They're my family."

"All of them? Well, I guess I can see the resemblance." Serenity noted, watching them all cheerfully help out.

"Yup. They're my nine little brothers and sisters. I take care of them." He said, gaining a hug from one of the girls.

"But... where are your parents?" Tristan asked. Brock paused for a second, but only a second.

"They... Left. They wanted to do their own thing. My mother used to be the gym leader here in Pewter city, But now with her gone, I've taken over. Both the gym and the house." All three of them looked at him in shock. All alone? And taking care of so many kids?

"Whats... a gym?" Brock paused again, but this time he looked incredulously up at Tristan.

"It's... a place where pokemon trainers test their merit." He explained, a little curious as to why they didn't know.

"Really?" Kaiba said, now interested. "What does one have to do to test their merit?"

"Well, really, they just have to show up and challenge me to a battle. But to be official, it has to be inside the gym and they have to go through my trainers first. To screen out those to weak to beat me." He informed them. "Why? Are you thinking of challenging me?" They could hear the competition in his voice and all nine of his younger siblings paused and looked between the two. Kaiba nodded assuredly.

"What pokemon do you have? I know it's generally frowned upon to ask, but you've already sen my best, and you said it yourself, you're not exactly from around here." Kaiba tossed the idea around in his head, but shrugged it off. He pulled out the two pokeballs and let out the pokemon inside them. The lizard looked around, then up at him, and the bird... was burnt and unconscious. "You really ought to take them to a pokecenter. And as far as a challenge goes, you're my favorite kind of easy target." Kaiba immediately tensed up. "Fire pokemon like Charmander here, and bird pokemon like this little Spearow are especially weak against my rock pokemon. As a matter of fact, half of the different moves and attacks work especially well against yours. I'm afraid, you wouldn't stand a chance."

That wasn't what Kaiba wanted to hear. Not at all. He hated being called an easy target, and even more, being weak. He glanced down at the pokemon he had, then thought back to the giant rock snake.

"What would you suggest I do then?"

"Train. The more battles you are in with your pokemon, the stronger you'll get. You'll learn to work as a team and eventually, you'll think so much alike, you wont even have to order it to do what you want it to. That Charmander of yours is pretty strong. You can tell by it's size, but if you've only just gotten it, you two still need to practice working as a team. Try the pokemon in the fields. They don't travel in packs like in the forest, so it'll be easier to handle yourself.

"Once you two can work together, then you should be able to handle the forest, no problem." Kaiba nodded, but didn't move. It was getting late and he had done so much running around that he needed rest. The others looked just as exhausted. "Hey, you all can stay here for the night if you want. I'll see what I can do about your Spearow too. Tommy, go set up the guest rooms." he said turning to one of the boys. "There's only two, so I'm guessing they boys get one, and this young lady gets the other? Oh! Your arm..." He moved quickly to Serenity and held up her injured arm.

"It's nothing, just a scratch." She said, trying to play it off, but visibly winced when she touched it.

"I cant sit by and let a beautiful lady be in pain!" Serenity looked away, her face bright red, as he bandaged her up. The home was big, crowded and warm. The kids all helped making dinner and afterward the girls stole Serenity to play with while the boys talked pokemon with Tristan. Brock ushered Kaiba into the kitchen where Spearow lay and grabbed something out of the cabinet.

"Here. You should give these to it. They'll make him feel better, and it'll help you two bond." Brock said, holding the small medicine balls up to Kaiba. He took them and raised the little birds head, but the thing turned away and closed it's eyes. It was indeed a stubborn little thing. "Hey. Those are extra tasty. Not even trying them's insulting the chef" Brock said, pointing to himself and smirking. The bird glared and him and looked back to Kaiba.

"If you like feeling weak and hurt, then I wont bother." Kaiba threatened, slowly pulling the ball away from the bird. The Spearow hesitated a moment, then lurched forward, beak open. Kaiba moved the medicine into the birds mouth and it bit of a small chunk and swallowed it. After only a moment, it jumped up, begging for more. Kaiba raised an eyebrow and looked to Brock.

"Who said healthy things had to taste gross?" he asked with a smile. "All of my treats and medicines are specially formulated to give the pokemon everything they need to grow and be strong while tasting amazing." He stood proudly over the happy bird and Kaiba could just watch as the little Spearow nudged towards him, looking for another. He didn't quite know what to make of this new world, but so far he had been lucky. He knew life didn't run on luck, and his would eventually run out, so there was only one option for him. Get stronger. Be the strongest. Then he could go anywhere. Then he could protect his little brother. Then he could get them home.

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**Another chapter down. I'm kinda liking this. It's pretty heavily following Kaiba right now. I'm wondering if it will continue to do so, or if it'll even off between him and Serenity. I've never written this story that I've had in my head before, but I know everything that's going to happen. Just not sure on how it'll look when I finally write it. I hope it'll still be good. **

**Also, I'm not going to be updating as consistently as I have in my previous stories. I might be able to update twice per week now, sorry if I've slowed, but a lot is going on right now. i will continue though, trust me... Not that this story will be widely viewed lol.  
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**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love Ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

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In the morning everyone woke to the smell of breakfast lingering in the air. Eggs and bacon and warm bread drew them from their beds and down to the kitchen. There Brock stood over his stove, apron on and spatula in hand.

"Morning. Let me ask you something Serenity," Brock started, eyes connecting with hers. "Do you have to try to look beautiful, or do you just wake that way?" Tristan moved between them, visibly irritated and looked for a reason to change the subject. Serenity, who had been uncomfortable with the come-ons blushed, smiled, and turned to Kaiba.

"How is your Spearow?" He looked her over, then sat at the table.

"Fine." Serenity didn't push him farther, but she did what she had set out to do. The subject was changed. She turned back to Brock.

"So... do we have to keep the pokemon in their balls?"

"No, pokemon are pretty widely accepted everywhere so long as they're not being destructive, but trainers usually keep them inside anyways, it's just easier that way." He said, placing plates full of warm wonderful food on the table.

"So... would you mind terribly if I let mine out?" He shook his head and she smiled, turning to her own pokemon. She let out the little Charmander and when it appeared it looked as if it had been asleep inside the small chamber. It stretched and looked up at her excitedly.

"Looks like you've got a little girl there. She's cute." He petted it's head and it looked happy. Serenity lifted the lizard and put it on her lap petting and cuddled it. The breakfast continued with Brock serving his younger siblings and bringing out his special pokemon food. When the time finally came for them to break the news that they had recently only ever heard of pokemon, a whole new discussion started. It was very similar to the one with Professor Oak, and Brock was more than happy to help everyone... especially Serenity.

"So that's where you got your Charmanders." Brock said, looking between Serenity and Kaiba.

"No, we found them." She said, and Brock looked at her curiously.

"They're not native to here..." Brock speculated out loud. "Where did you find them?"

"They were living in a den, along a small creek to the south east of where you found us." Kaiba informed him.

"Would you mind showing me? There's something shady about this." Kaiba looked him over, not wanting to leave if it meant he'd miss his little brother. Brock seemed to read his mind and turned to one of his brothers. "Forrest, Keep an eye out for any travelers going this way. See if they know Serenity, Tristan or Seto." Kaiba didn't like his first name being used so informally, but it was the custom here, so he couldn't really argue. The boy nodded and the group moved out. "You can probably get some training done out there too. I'll be there with Onix, so it's not as dangerous."

Serenity moved along side her Charmander, Tristan, his Pinsir, and Kaiba brought out his own two pokemon. Brock looked them over and smiled.

"In a sanctioned trainer battle, you'll only be able to use one pokemon at a time. Most trainers use these rules. Because we're out in the forest, where anything can happen it's alright to use more, but just remember, any gym battle, league, or tournament, and it's one on one only." He informed them. It was good to know. Kaiba would need to know all the rules if he planned on learning, training, and becoming more powerful as fast as he could.

With Brock and Onix, the forest was less of a threat than before. They worked their way through a group of what Brock called Ratatata and Raticate. The later being the large rat that chased the group from the forest the first time they had been there. Kaiba took great pleasure in taking down a few of the bee creatures, known as Beedrill that had been the first to threaten them. It seemed his Charmander was just as eager to fight as he was to train, and the inherent fire abilities worked great against the bugs.

Both Charmanders worked well together to thwart any bees that came by to threaten them. At the end of every altercation, Serenity knelt and petted her Charmander that she had begun calling 'Ember' and Kaiba gave an approving nod to his Charmander. Tristan got his chance to train soon enough when a big Pinsir, like his challenged the group. Tristan's Pinsir moved in, trying to wrestle the thing down and testing it's strength. Soon, though the other Pinsir proved too much, and his was thrown to the ground, unable to rise again.

Ember stepped up, circling around the bug and shaking burning embers off of her and onto ut. The Pinsir swung at the Charmander, wincing at the glowing specks of flame coming off of it, then panicked, retreating into the forest. Ember ran excitedly back to Serenity and jumped into her arms. She cooed the little lizard, smiling and hugging it and it snuggled against her.

Finally they reached the small creek and the den in which the Charmanders were found.

"They don't belong here." Brock said, looking into the small cave. "They're mountainous pokemon. They don't breed or live in the forest. They'll burn it down if they stay here." He said, trying to get a better look inside.

"What do you think you're doing?" They all jumped, turning to the new voice behind them. A man, dressed in black with a big letter R in red on his shirt stood before them.

"We're looking for some wild Charmanders spotted in the area." Brock said, not quite trusting the man, but answering anyways.

"There aren't any wild Charmanders in the area." The man tried, but the group glared and him and his eyes wandered to the two Charmanders accompanying the trainers. "Say... where did you get those two?"

"They were wild in the area. We caught them." Kaiba said plainly. The man moved his hand to his belt and he smirked.

"Don't you know, stealing is wrong. Those were for the boss." He threw three of his own pokeballs, calling forth the pokemon residing inside. One large mound of sludge, a giant bat, and a Raticate appeared, ready to fight.

"You're the one who brought them here, I should have known!" Brock shouted. "Onix, Get them!" The large snake did just that, it lunged forward, missing the bat and rat, but slamming straight into the mound of mud. The Pokemon splattered everywhere, but after a few moments, regrouped and looked fine.

"Heh, you're going to have to do better than that. Golbat, Confusion!" The bat was happy to oblige and let out a high pitched tone that made everyone close their eyes and cover their ears.

"What is this?" Tristan shouted, trying to steady himself. "Gr, Pinsir, shut that thing up!" The bug lunged forward, slightly missing it's mark, but knocking into the thing's wing.

"Onix, bring the bat down!" Brock shouted and the snake tackled the dazed bat out of the air.

"No! Muk, get the Onix!" The mud like pokemon moved slowly over the snake, covering it in slime and pinning it down. The snake thrashed, smacking the rat into a tree, but couldn't move any farther.

"Ember, knock out the rat!" Serenity cried, afraid it would attack her next now that it was next to her. Ember raked it's claws across the rat, making it cry out, then let out a fiery blast, knocking it unconscious.

"Onix, No!" Brock cried, unable to free his pokemon from the Muk's pin. A sick sizzling sound buzzed as the creatures acidic body began to melt away at the large rocks and Onix let out a cry of pain.

"Brock, you said your pokemon is resistant to fire right?" Kaiba called. Brock could only nod as he tried desperately to get the stinking mud monster off of his friend. "Get off of it!" Kaiba called, and Brock jumped back. Kaiba turned to his Charmander and nodded. "Light it up." The Charmander sucked in a deep breath, then let out a mighty blast of fire. Onix winced as the flames scorched it's body, but soon it's rocky self began to glow a bright red and the creature holding it down began to boil and squirm.

"No! How is this possible?" The man cried as his Muk fell off of the snake, unable to stand the heat anymore. The man started to run, calling back his pokemon as he weaved through the trees.

"Onix..." Brock hugged the giant snake, stroking it and trying to get it to respond. He recalled it back into it's ball and looked to the others. "I'm afraid we're going to have to leave. Our pokemon are tired and mine's completely out. We need to rest up before we take on anything else." Everyone nodded noting their respective pokemon's state. They followed him to the west and came to a small town. "This is Viridian City. You probably passed through it when you came up the first time." Brock said, moving towards a large building on the southern end of town.

"Actually, we were chased right past it. We haven't been here." Kaiba informed him. Brock looked through them all and moved into the building, waving them on with him.

"This is a pokecenter. They rest and heal your pokemon to full health." He said, turning to the nurse behind the counter.

"Hello, can I help you?" Brock paused and the group watched him wondering why he hadn't said anything.

"Did... Did it hurt?" He finally managed, confusing the entire group and the nurse as well.

"What?"

"When you fell from heaven, because you must be an angel." He said, taking her hand. She giggled and pulled back, smiling warmly at him while Kaiba rolled his eyes and Tristan stood dumbstruck.

"We need to rest our pokemon." Kaiba said, moving between the nurse and Brock.

"Of course. Just give me their pokeballs and I'll take good care of them." She said with a smile. They all handed over their pokemon and she brought them into a room in the back. It didn't take longer than twenty minutes before she came back out with them and handed the balls to their respective owners. They managed to drag Brock away from the medical center and finally get him back to his usual self.

"Kaiba, maybe Mokuba and the others stopped here. We should check around." Serenity said, wanting to find her brother as well. Kaiba nodded and scanned the area. "I'm going to ask around at the store. Maybe someone out here saw them?" She offered, moving towards a small store and leaving him and Tristan to ask around. When they all met back they came to the same conclusion. The group had in fact been there, and moved right through. Now that Kaiba was assured his little brother was safe, he felt more comfortable.

"So we go back to Pewter city?" He said into the group. Everyone nodded and Brock took the lead again. They went straight north, towards the fields and they could see farther up where the forest blocked them from the view of the town. Once in the fields, the grass was a lot taller than they had thought. It nearly came up to their waist, and Brock warned them of pokemon lurking inside. They didn't make it far before the first pokemon jumped them.

"Is... that a monkey?" Serenity asked, moving behind Tristan.

"No, it's a Mankey. Be careful, they have attitude problems. It's also a fighting style pokemon. They're good against my rock pokemon, but this one's still weak." Kaiba lifted a pokeball. He could train it if it was weak, and if it was good against Brock's pokemon, it would help secure his victory. Before he could instruct his Charmander to attack, though, Tristan's Pinsir dove forward, tackling the thing to the ground.

"Huh, guess he's not happy about losing earlier." Tristan said, watching his bug wrestle the monkey. They seemed pretty evenly matched, both becoming tired over time. Kaiba grumbled as he watched the monkey falling to Tristan's pokemon. Tristan threw the pokeball and watched it snap open and close around the Mankey. It struggled for what felt like an eternity, but eventually the red button faded and Tristan had his second pokemon.

"Be careful when training that one. If they don't initially like you, they're difficult to instruct." Brock reminded Tristan. He didn't seem to care. He now had two pokemon and was pleased with himself. Serenity glanced down at Ember. The little lizard smiled and cuddled up in her arms and she was happy. She didn't want to just catch pokemon to see how many she could get. She wanted to bond with the ones she had. A sudden rustle in the brush alerted them to another presence.

Kaiba and Brock took the lead, parting the brush and looking for the threat while Serenity and Tristan waited with their pokemon, ready to give backup if needed. Kaiba visibly relaxed, turning away while Serenity's curiosity got the best of her. A small bird, the same size as Kaiba's, but obviously different, sat scared and hurt. A twig stuck out of it's wing and the bird winced in pain as he tried to hop backwards from the group. Tristan readied another pokeball, but Serenity stopped him.

"Tristan! The poor thing. It's scarred to death. Don't you dare." She scolded, and he deflated and put the ball back. Kaiba didn't care, another bird would just add another weakness to his goal of defeating Brock. She knelt down to the small bird and it skittered away, unable to put too much distance between them, but still trying. She coaxed it closer until she could reach out and grab it. The bird squawked loudly in fright and pecked at her hand, but Serenity continued, holding it's hurt wing up and finally plucking the twig from where it stuck.

Brock leaned down, offering her a spray bottle that he explained was a remedy for pokemon's ailments. She sprayed it onto the bird and it cheeped and struggled against her, suddenly feeling stronger in her hand. It broke free and she watched it hop a few feet away, pause and preen it's now healed wing. Her Charmander smiled at it and waved before moving to her side and accepting a gentle pat in the head. The bird cocked it's head to the side as Serenity rose and waved goodbye. She fixed Tristan with a quick glare before moving with Brock and Kaiba into the forest.

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**So, Official schedule. I will be updating every Wednesday and Sunday around noon until further notice. Hopefully I'll be less busy lately and be able to write faster and it'll be back up to once a day, but until then, don't forget to review. I'm always eager to hear what people have to say about my work. Good or bad... though I do prefer good. Also, if you find any errors I missed, or if something confuses you, leet me know and I'll be sure to try to fix/straighten them out for you. Cant wait to hear from you!  
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**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

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Once inside the forest, it felt darker and more crowded than the one they had been chased through. The trees were so thickly rooted that they were put through an entire labyrinth of thorns and bushes. Tristan knocked his head into something hanging down from the treetops and jumped back. The thing turned slowly and Kaiba readied himself for something to attack.

"Don't worry about this little thing, it's just a Metapod. They're practically harmless." Brock said with a laugh. Kaiba straightened and glanced around the area. Now that he knew what to look for, he noticed they littered the tops of the trees. Tristan glared at the thing and moved around it, not looking where he was going and bumping onto another. He cursed, swatting at the thing and it swung around, angrily buzzing at him.

"What... what's that?" Serenity asked, somewhat in a daze. Everyone turned and saw the glittering of dust falling around her and moving towards them. They looked up and saw several giant butterflies, the source of the dust.

"Those are Butterfree! The evolved form of the Metapods! We need to get out of here." Brock shouted, reaching forward to grab Serenity's arm, but the second he touched her she fell, unconscious. He began to tire himself, falling under the sleep powder of the Butterfree above him. Tristan ran in as well, against Kaiba's call for him not to, and began to slow and tire with the rest of them. Kaiba took a step back, trying to assess the situation without succumbing to the toxin.

"They're bugs... Get them Spearow." Kaiba said, turning to the small bird. It immediately took flight, swooping and pecking at the Butterfree. It seemed to be doing some real damage, but the bugs outnumbered the bird and overpowered it. He debated the risk of setting the forest aflame by using his Charmander, but in this labyrinth, he and the others might never make it out alive. Suddenly a huge gust of wind rustled through the trees. Kaiba had to hold onto a branch to brace himself, catching his Spearow before it could be carried away in the wind.

Out of nowhere the small bird Serenity had helped bolted through the trees, flapping it's wings at incredible speeds and causing a huge gust, blowing away the bugs and the toxins they carried. Once the area was free of the attackers the bird flew down, landing on the waking Serenity's arm and cooing at her.

"Ugh... did... did you do this?" She asked, finally conscious as the others began to stir. The little bird fluttered happily and nuzzled her as she stroked it gently then turned to the others.

"Heh, seems like that little Pidgy is stronger than it looks." Brock said reaching out to pet it, but getting pecked in return. "Looks like it's defensive of you too." He said, pulling his hand back and rubbing it.

"Pidgy, Is that what you're called? How cute." She said, lifting the little one.

"Look, we can sit around here and wait for them to come back or we can move on and regroup with the rest of us." Kaiba pointed out. Serenity and the others rose and moved to him. The little Pidgy stayed on her shoulder, refusing to let anyone or thing else touch her except Ember. As they emerged from the forest, they could see only a small field between them and a town.

"This is Pewter City. My home town. I know I live a little out of the way, but this is where my gym is. There's also a research center on the northern edge of town, but it's more of a museum now. They focus on extinct species." Kaiba glanced towards the larger building to the north, but turned away. He wasn't interested in the past of this world. Only on how to get stronger in it so he could get out of it.

"Brock, because you know the area, would you be able to ask around to see if our friends have been through here?" Serenity asked hopefully while the others looked on.

"Sure thing. Let's stop by my gym. Forrest should be there." He said, walking to the north east of town. Once inside Brock greeted his junior trainer and moved on to his younger brother.

"Hey, I was just going to talk to you..." Forrest said sadly.

"What's the matter?" Brock asked him, concern clear in his voice.

"Well, you know those people you wanted us to look out for?" Forrest started. Brock nodded him on and he continued. "Well, they just left. I tried to get them to wait, but they were chasing some guys from Team Rocket!" Serenity, Tristan, and Kaiba all glanced between each other, then back to the two brothers in front of them. "Also... You were gone and one of them wanted to challenge the gym... I... I accepted. I'm sorry Brock, I lost." Brock gave a sympathetic smile to him and patted his head.

"You're a great trainer. If they beat you, they might have even beaten me too. Did you give them a badge?" The boy nodded slowly, unable to meet his brothers gaze. "Good. You're a good kid. don't be so down on yourself. This is our family's gym. We all run it. If they beat you, they earned the badge." He said before standing and looking to the trio. "If they just left you might want to go after them. I'm going to stay here with my brother. I cant travel to far, being the gym leader, but what I can do is give you a map." He said, moving to the wall of the gym and pulling off a large map of the area. He rolled it up and handed it to them, bidding them farewell.

They were instructed that their friends went down route three towards Mount Moon, which the map pointed out was directly west outside of town. The wild pokemon in that area were much more difficult to deal with than the ones in the forest. It was disheartening for the group, but they continued on. Kaiba was determined to strengthen his pokemon, and his pokemon, also seemingly eager to fight, happily obeyed. Tristan became a bit competitive, seeing Serenity wowed by Kaiba's immediate talent and skill with the pokemon, and began training his, hoping to eventually beat Kaiba and woo Serenity. It made the trip a bit longer than they would have liked, but eventually they came to the foot of a large mountain with a large cave at the base.

They could see a Pokemon center off to the side and decided to rest a bit, wondering if they really had to enter the cave. They asked around the pokecenter if anyone had seen their friends and were informed that they did in fact enter the cave, still in chasing off the 'Team Rocket' members. Once inside, the cave wasn't as scary as Serenity had thought it would be. There was enough sunlight glittering through the cracks in the mountains to dimly light the cave. All they had to worry about now was the pokemon hiding in the rocks.

Kaiba and Serenity let out their Charmanders, utilizing the fire from their tails as they traveled through darker sections of mountain. Small pokemon with stone skin in the shape of boulders with arms littered the cave floors. Kaiba was determined to learn how to defeat his pokemon's weaknesses and ordered his Charmander and Spearow to attack. The Spearow circled above, doing negligible damage as it swooped down and pecked the rock while his Charmander scratched and clawed at it. The pokemon hoisted a rock twice the size of itself and launched it across the cavern, knocking the Spearow out of the air.

It then turned it's attention on the Charmander. The fiery lizard dodged back and forth, the rocks narrowly missing it, then lunged forward, headbutting it. The rock pokemon rolled back while the poor Charmander reeled in pain. The rock turned on Kaiba, throwing a boulder at him this time. He dodged the projectile and it shattered against the wall behind him. The pokemon moved closer to the cavern walls and began pounding on them in a rhythmic fashion.

"What is it doing?" Tristan asked, looking to Serenity as Kaiba collected his pokemon. Before anyone could answer a deep rumbling came from the earth around them. Eight, maybe ten more of those creatures came from all around them, circling them and trapping them. Tristan called out his Pinsir and Mankey and Serenity pulled out her Pidgy to join her Charmander. Immediately the Mankey got to work, chopping and kicking the small boulders, but was still too weak to defend itself. The Pidgy and Ember distracted their enemies and took hits for Mankey so it could do it's thing.

The small rocks slowly withered their pokemon's strength, slowing them and making them easier targets. Pidgy was the first to fall unconscious, worrying Serenity and forcing her to recall the small bird.

"It's too dangerous, We cant hold them off!" Serenity cried, running up to Ember and holding the semi conscious lizard. Her pleas reached the others as they looked to their wounded pokemon, but they weren't the only ones to notice her. The enemy pokemon hurled a round of stones in their direction as Tristan leaped out of the way, leaving nothing between the rocks and Serenity. She rose, trying to get out of the way but it was too late. She watched in horror as the stones hurtled through the air towards her. All she could do now was close her eyes and let out a scream while clinging to Ember.

"Ugh!" She heard grunt over her as rocks collided with flesh. She opened her eyes and looked up at a wincing Kaiba as he braced himself against the wall behind her and shielded her from the assault. The rocks finally stopped and Kaiba was able to focus on her now. "Be more careful." He instructed, leveling her with a glare before turning to face the rock pokemon. His Charmander stood before him, eager to try against it's weakness again.

The small lizard lunged forward, bringing it's claw down on the rock, and amazingly, breaking through. It continued in this manner, removing threat after threat. Kaiba smiled down at the little one as it finished up.

"Serenity, are you ok?" Tristan asked, grabbing her hand and trying to get her attention. Her eyes never wavered from Kaiba's form as he turned back to her, hearing the inquiry and wondering what her answer would be.

"I'm fine... Thanks to Kaiba. Are... Are you alright?" He stared at her for a moment then sighed.

"I'd be better if I had someone competent traveling with me." Serenity turned away, unable to face him any longer. She hated being so weak. Someone was always saving her or protecting her. She was sick of it.

With Kaiba's Charmander's new found ability, they were able to move through the rest of the cave easily. They searched every last crack in the tunnels, making sure their friends weren't lost inside. Once they emerged from the cave, they could see the next town just a little ways away. Before they could even get to the town, they saw a girl sitting alone and decided to ask if she had seen heir friends.

"I'm sorry, but I've seen every person who's entered Cerulean City, and I haven't seen your friends."

"Maybe you just weren't paying attention." Kaiba narrowed his gaze on her, but astonishingly enough, the girl puffed herself up and met the glare, offering him one of her own.

"Are you telling me I cant do a simple task like watching the cave? Because that's all I've been doing for the last week and a half. Why don't you crawl back in there until you learn some manners." She said, ready for a fight. Serenity pushed her way in front of Kaiba, trying to halt the altercation.

"No, of course not. See, we're new around here, and we were separated from our friends. He's just really worried about his little brother. They don't like being apart." The girls eyes softened and she looked over Kaiba, who was upset that Serenity had barged into their conversation and had the nerve to speak on his account.

"Oh... So you just want to make sure your friends are alright?" The girl asked and Serenity nodded.

"My big brother is with them too." She added, making the girl give her a sympathetic look.

"I guess I can help you out a bit. My name's Misty. If you want, I can escort you around in Mt. Moon. My water type pokemon can easily take out those rock heads in there." She said, energetically gripping a pokeball. Kaiba wasn't exactly thrilled, but decided to allow her to help. She was more knowledgeable about the area, and he was interested in seeing what kind of power she harnessed.

They moved back into the tunnels and began their exploration. Misty called one of her pokemon to walk with them. It was in the shape of a star with a bright gem in the center. She called it 'Staryu'. They watched as it used a high pressure beam of water from it's top point and easily fended off the rock type pokemon.

"So, Water type pokemon huh?" Tristan asked, also curious about them.

"Yup. It's a family tradition, besides, water pokemon are some of the prettiest pokemon, I mean, just look at my Staryu." She knelt, polishing the gem at it's center. It was kind of pretty. "My sisters are better than me... but that's not for long. I'm training so I can continue my family's duties at our Gym... and show my sisters a thing or two."

"Does everyone own a gym?" Kaiba asked, rolling his eyes. He assumed the water pokemon would be great against his Charmander, and his Spearow was still too weak to really fight on it's own right now. He was beginning to wonder if he could find a gym where he would be the stronger type.

"Well, the families that run the gym pretty much protect the town and are a big part of the community. We're their protectors. I watch this road, while my sisters each watch the roads north, south and east of the city. That way, if anything bad happens, we've seen all strange pokemon and people coming and going." Serenity looked at the girl in wonder. She was so young and already taking care of herself and standing up to even Kaiba. This girl, at least six years her youth, was twice the woman she hoped to be. She just had everything together and that's what Serenity wanted more than anything.

Maybe all she needed was a challenge and this world... was full of them.

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**So, another update. I like how this story is going so far, and I'm happy it's coming out how I imagined it. I posted a picture inspired from this fic on my deviant art account (kehkansklover) But just a warning, it contains spoilers. There's a full link in my profile to my account. Let me know what you guys think so far. I love the reviews!**

**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

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"Are you sure they went in here?" Misty asked after scouring the entirety of the cave with them. Kaiba was surprised at how quickly she tore through the rock-like pokemon in the cave. It was as if they never stood a chance. Maybe they didn't.

"We asked the people at the pokemon center just outside the cave if they had entered and they said they saw them for sure. They were chasing some people from team...shuttle?" Serenity tried, not quite remembering the name of the organization.

"Team Rocket." Kaiba corrected, glancing around the now empty cavern.

"Wait, Team rocket was headed to my home town? Why didn't you say something about that!" She yelled, rushing back towards the city they hadn't entered yet. "I'm supposed to protect my town from them, not just let them waltz in!" She cried as they attempted to keep up with her.

"Are they really that bad?" Tristan asked, trying to catch his breath, but slowing.

" Are you kidding? They're the most rotten thieves, kidnappers and dealers there ever were." Kaiba stopped dead in his tracks. Kidnappers? If they got Mokuba...He rushed forward, easily covering the ground he lost from when he stopped. He had to get them. He had to make sure his little brother was safe, and if that meant taking down all of Team Rocket, then so be it.

Once outside of the cave, they could already see there was trouble taking place in the town. Misty let out a small yelp and moved on towards it and the others followed.

"Where did they go?" She called, asking one of the townspeople who was just standing back up.

"To the west." He managed to get out before she moved on. Tristan stayed back to help the man while Serenity and Kaiba continued on with Misty. She followed the wreckage to a small house to the northwest of town and entered. There were two people inside, a man and a woman, who were talking to what seemed to be a female police officer. The back wall had a large hole in it that they were sure was recent as of today.

"So they just ran through here? Did they take anything?" She cop asked, ready to move if she should need to.

"Yes, but it wasn't much. Just a TM." The man said, shaken. The officer nodded and climbed through the hole in the wall, in obvious pursuit of the criminals. Misty followed, determined to right her wrong and Serenity and Kaiba did as well.

Just outside, they caught a glimpse of a man dressed in black running away. The officer was already hot on him, but they ran to catch up as well.

"Go, Growlith!" The officer shouted, releasing her pokemon. A small orange and white striped dog lunged forth and took off after the man. It wasn't long before the pokemon jumped him, sending him crashing to the ground. He cried out and struggled against the dog, but it was no use. He had only one option left. He reached down and clicked the buttons on his pokeballs, sending out his own pokemon. Another of those giant bats, Golbat, and one of the sludge creatures appeared. The sludge creature was smaller than the last they encountered and was just off on coloring.

Along with those, a large purple snake and a floating creature that looked somewhat like an old water mine appeared.

"Coffing, Smokescreen!" The man called, and the floating mine buzzed around them, spewing nauseating gasses out and making everyone in the area choke. They couldn't see inside the smoke but they could hear the dog pokemon yelp in pain.

"Pidgy, blow away the smoke!" Serenity called, letting out the little bird. It began flapping it's wings furiously and drawing up a strong gust of wind to sweep away the obstructing vapors. As the air around them cleared the snake launched itself from the smokescreen, latching itself onto the closest person, Kaiba. He fell prone as the snake tangled itself with him, immobilizing him. Tristan ran to remove the creature from him, but it snapped at him, scaring him off.

"Pinsir, get it off of him." He instructed, letting his pokemon go. Serenity recalled her Pidgy now that the smoke was clear. It was still too weak from fighting in the caves earlier to do much more. She called on her Charmander, and Tristan let out his Mankey as well. Misty called another star like pokemon forth. This one was purple with twice as many points as the other.

"Starmie, make sure they cant get away!" She cried and the creature launched into the air and spun frisbee style until it made it to the Team Rocket member, smashing into his back as he tried to flee. Serenity's Charmander began clawing at the snake on Kaiba as she pried at it's tail, trying to free his arms. Once he got one of them free, he called on his own pokemon. His Spearow darted about in the air, attacking the Golbat in aerial combat while both his Charmander and the dog from the officer struggled with the slime pokemon.

Tristan's Mankey jumped trying to hit the flying smoke pokemon out of the air while his Pinsir helped finish prying off the snake. Overall, the Rocket member was failing, and he was beginning to realize it. Suddenly, before they could do anything else, More of the snake like pokemon and slime covered pokemon circled them. There were at least a dozen of them. The man from Team Rocket rose, smirking.

"I was wondering when you all would show up." He said, fixing his gaze on the officer as he addressed the new arrivals. Before long five more people wearing the same black outfit as him surrounded them.

"We were waiting on the bridge, but I guess you forgot that." One of them replied.

"This isn't good..." Tristan said, turning to watch the snakes and slime creatures circling them and backing towards the center with everyone else.

"Hah, Misty, you cant even handle a few lumps like these. There really is no hope for you." A female voice called. All people and pokemon turned their attention to the roof of a nearby building. The gym. "I mean, we have you watch one entrance and you still manage to screw that up." A woman said, flipping her hair back.

"We always have to clean up after you. Oh well, what are big sisters for?" Two more girls moved up from behind the first and readied their pokeballs.

"Dewgong, I think you'll be enough for a bunch of weaklings like these." The third said, tossing out a pokeball. "Icebeam." She commanded and a ray of frost protruded from the pokeball before the pokemon could even form. The frost ray swept over all of the offending pokemon, freezing them in place before anyone could even bat an eye. These girls... they were powerful. Finally, with the threats neutralized, they could all get a good view of the girl's pokemon. It was a large white seal with a single horn atop it's head.

"It's beautiful..." Serenity said, admiring the thing. The girls gave a confidant smirk and hopped down from the building with grace. They moved next to a deflated Misty and put their arms around her.

"See sis? That's how Gym leaders take care of problems. Maybe you should go fish yourself out a new stronger pokemon... not that it'd listen to you." They laughed, making her turn red and shrug them off.

"Why do you all have to be such jerks?" She said, storming away. Serenity paused for a moment, but ran to catch up with her, leaving the boys with Misty's sisters.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked, now a good distance away from the others.

"No. Did you see me out there? I was pretty much useless. How am I ever going to make it to Gym leader if I keep fighting like that?" She said, looking down and shuffling her feet.

"You're a lot closer than you think. You're so young and already strong. I kinda wish I was more like you." Misty looked up at Serenity, but scrunched her nose.

"You're just teasing me like they are." She seemed to be trying to convince herself more than Serenity, and she could tell Misty wasn't used to hearing things like that.

"No, I'm not. But maybe it's a good thing they tease you." Now Misty was giving her a look that questioned her very sanity. "Hear me out, I have a big brother. He's always supporting me and telling me I can do anything, but when it comes down to actually doing things, he always does them for me. He hasn't taught me how to live. How to deal with things. He thinks I'm small and weak and that I constantly need to be protected. But if I'm always protected, how can I ever learn to fight my own battles? Your sisters may be a bit mean and stand off ish, but at least you're able to learn and grow." She finished. Misty looked up at her with bright eyes full of understanding.

"I guess so... I just wish they weren't so mean about it." Her tone was a happy one, despite the subject.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Serenity giggled, and Misty nodded, leaning in. " I'm almost happy that My brother and I got separated. I feel like I've learned so much more in the last day than I have in the month before. Is that awful?" Misty shook her head.

"I guess independence is important. Maybe I'm kind of lucky to have it... though... I wish there was some middle ground." The girls laughed and made their way back to the group.

"Where are they?" They heard Kaiba ask as they watched him stand intimidatingly over the Team Rocket members.

"Gone. They messed up a big operation of ours and they're paying for it now." One of the grunts said, smiling. Kaiba gripped the collar of the mans shirt, yanking him up and breaking off some ice from his clothes.

"You're going to tell me where they went while you still can, because when I'm done with you, I can guarantee you wont have any fingers, toes ears tongue or nose left to do anything with." He threatened, making the man turn four shades of pale lighter.

"Th-That's nothing compared to what the b-boss will do." He said, trying not to panic.

"Really? Then I guess I'll have to bump it up a notch." The man almost passed out in his hands right there when Serenity moved in. She put a hand on Kaiba's arm and he glared at it, then her.

"Kaiba, if he passes out, we wont get anything from him." She said, offering a sweet, yet submissive smile. He released the man, for reasons unknown to even himself and moved aside. "Can I get you anything? Water? Maybe a coat?" She asked sweetly, kneeling before them man. Everyone stood in shock, unable to form words. The man gulped back and shook his head, unsure of how to respond. She turned her head to the others and addressed them. "Hey, Can I get some privacy? Misty, maybe you could help me." She offered a wink to Misty and suddenly it dawned on her.

"Alright, Give them some space. You guys are too scary." She said, pushing Kaiba and Tristan out, while also glaring at Misty's sisters. They moved from the area, content with watching from a window inside the gym and Misty went back out with Serenity. She offered a glass of water to the man who took it but didn't drink from it.

"Now, we just want to find our friends. I'm sure we can settle any disputes we have with your boss, but this kind of thing is a little over your heads. I don't see why your boss even has to know you were a part of it. Any of you, really. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I don't like it when people suffer. And I really don't know if I can get Kaiba to stop... he kind of doesn't like me and he doesn't listen to anyone really. If you'd just tell us where they are... I'm sure we can work something out so you don't get in trouble with your boss and we can find our friends. Besides, it's only the three of us looking... if those gym leaders didn't come and bail us out, we would have never defeated you." She said in the kindest voice she could muster. Most of what she said was true.

"They... They're being kept...At the power plant up north." She finally got out of them. She smiled and turned to the window, giving the thumbs up.

"I'll see what I can do for you guys." Both her and Misty moved into the gym to meet up with the rest of them and left the group to wait anxiously. Finally they re-emerged and the gym leaders approached the group.

"You're going to give back everything you stole. You''re going to help up repair the house you broke through, and then you're never going to come back again. Understand?" The group of villains nodded and rose, led off by Misty's sisters.

"So, you're going to the old power plant right? I can help you get there. The road's kind of been worn away by the ocean, so you'd need water pokemon to surf you down to it. I've got plenty of water pokemon in here," She pointed back at the gym, "so you guys wont have to worry about it."

"That's great!" Tristan said, eager to reunite with the rest of them. Kaiba nodded and Serenity smiled widely. It took her a few minutes but she was able to disappear into the gym and reappear ready to go.

"I was able to borrow my sister's Seaking. It can hold one person. Staryu only let's me ride her and Starmie can hold up to two people. So two of you will be riding together." Serenity paled. She knew there was no way Kaiba would ever ride with Tristan, and she wasn't exactly comfortable riding with either one of them. Kaiba was mean and Tristan was... Tristan. It was going to be quite the decision.

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**Ok, so, I'm thinking about completely giving up on this fic. I've had like, no viewers and this chapters been up for the entire day and hasn't gotten one hit. I'm seriously just thinking of calling it a flop. It depends on the next few days, so let me know if I should even bother.  
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**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

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Once at the banks of where Misty said the power plant was, she called out her pokemon. The Seaking looked like a giant Coy fish with larger more wavy fins and a horn atop it's head. Kaiba readied himself to mount it, sure he wouldn't be sharing with anyone when a noise caught his attention.

"That's it, No, This isn't happening." Serenity's frazzled voice called as Misty and Kaiba turned to see what was wrong. "I'm waiting here. You guys go." She said, hands behind her back and blush across her face.

"What's wrong?" Misty asked, curious as to why now she didn't want to go.

"It was an accident! I didn't mean it." Tristan pleaded, but Serenity was having none of it.

"No, the first time you touched my butt was the accident, not the fourth." She glared at him, remaining about twenty feet away on the shore. All of the arguing was giving Kaiba a headache. They were moving nowhere and fast. He sighed and stepped away from the large fish and approached Tristan.

"Get on it." He said as he grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him over to it.

"What? You're not riding with Serenity!" He shouted, now upset himself. Kaiba fixed him with a glare.

"I just want to get to my little brother and you're in the way of that. Move." He said, not giving the boy enough time to retort. He walked towards the large star and turned to Serenity. "Get on." She hesitated for a moment, but after another glare from him, she moved to the water. Once atop the Starmie, he climbed over her, securing himself by holding onto one of the star's limbs and his other arm wrapped around her waist. It wasn't completely uncomfortable so he wasn't too hung up about it.

Actually, she was quite soft under him, even though her body tensed wherever he happened to bump her. When they were finally moving, he had to shift to avoid her hair whipping him in the face.

"Be careful, the water gets rough around here. It doesn't last long though." Misty warned from ahead. They made it smoothly through most of the so called rough waters until finally they did hit a bad patch. Tristan almost flew off Seaking as Misty expertly surfed with perfect balance on her Staryu. Kaiba, not in a very natural pose ended up crashing down on Serenity, flattening her between him and the pokemon. She turned to look up at him over her shoulder and he could feel his face get hot.

"Uh... Sorry." Why the hell did he apologize? He couldn't be held accountable for the currents of the ocean or the abilities of the pokemon they were riding. He shook his head, sighing deeply and picking up on a sweet scent. It was like... a sweet citrus melon or something of the like. He looked at the girl below him, who had already turned back to stare at the ocean and breathed deeply. It was her alright. It wasn't like the torrential amounts of vile strong perfumes the girls chasing him apparently bathed in.

She felt soft, smelled sweet, and wasn't too bad on the eyes either. Wait. What the hell was he thinking? He needed to find Mokuba. He didn't have time to focus on girls. Especially those related to a certain blonde he hated. A large building came into sight, silencing his mind. They approached the shore as Misty confirmed what they had already found.

"We're here. The place should be open." She said, hopping off of her Staryu. Tristan climbed off Seaking gently, only landing in a few inches of water while the Starmie brought Kaiba and Serenity completely onto the shore. Kaiba leaped off gracefully and offered a hand to Serenity to let her down. It was her turn to blush, but he turned away, ashamed that he could harbor those feelings for someone like her. "Normally there wouldn't be any pokemon inside a building like this, but since this one has been abandoned, electric pokemon have gathered in here. They're extremely dangerous and because they're so close to a power supplier they're supercharged and probably very aggressive. I... wont be much help in here... my pokemon are all weak to them." Misty added, recalling the water type pokemon to the safety of their balls.

Serenity, Tristan, and Kaiba all called out their pokemon, but both Kaiba and Serenity received frowns from Misty.

"Electricity types are also really effective against flying type pokemon. So your Pidgy and Spearow wouldn't last long." Kaiba and Serenity glanced at each other and recalled their feathered friends. They were left with their Charmanders, Pinsir and Mankey. They moved cautiously into the building and began their search for their friends.

"Where... are all the pokemon?" Tristan asked after about fifteen minutes of searching the area. They hadn't encountered a single one.

"Oh... No..." Misty exclaimed and everyone turned to her. "This place... if Team Rocket came through here, they could have taken all the poor wild pokemon in here. Who knows what they're doing to them." She said, worrying about the native creatures.

"Then we'll just have to find them quickly." Kaiba said, picking up his pace. They rounded a corner and he froze, causing Tristan to almost bump into him. Voices danced into the hall as they became quiet.

"You brats aren't going to interfere with our plans anymore." They heard a gruff voice call.

"You people wont get away with this. This is cruel and evil!" They heard Yugi and all of them immediately got excited. Kaiba slowly approached the door the voices came from, signaling the rest of them not to move. He slowly slid the door open and peered in. His eyes widened as he saw the entire group, Mokuba included, tied together in a large net next to two large sacks. They were under what looked like a large basket. There were three men around them, one facing them, one doing something on a panel in the wall, and one reaching up to some ropes attached to the basket.

Suddenly the roof began to shift and move, a function usually used to position the large lightening rods that were kept in this room. The third man disappeared behind the group and a slight noise rang out under the sound of the roof pulling back. Kaiba turned to the rest of them and waved them up so they could see what was going on.

"That's... That's a hot air balloon!" Serenity quietly exclaimed and Kaiba's eyes shot back to the basket. Of course. How had he not seen that? But if that was a hot air balloon... The large canvas began to fill as hot air blew into it, lifting it high above the basket. The ropes grew taught as the basket pulled on them. The three men began to move towards it when Kaiba slammed the door open.

"Big brother!" Mokuba cried, relieved and excited.

"Hah, they found us." One of them said, smirking as he leaped into the hot air balloon.

"But too late." The other two jumped in and they cut some of the ropes, letting the balloon lift into the air. Kaiba ran as fast as he could, grabbing onto the net before it could completely lift off the ground. Serenity and Tristan ran towards it, calling back their pokemon. Before jumping onto it, Serenity grabbed Kaiba's Charmander, but all she could grab was a loose rope that had been cut, giving her already weak grip more strain.

"Kaiba! Call back your Charmander!" She cried, unable to hold both the rope and the pokemon. He glanced down at her and lifted the pokeball, fixing her issue and turned back to Mokuba. Misty was already starting to cut through the ropes that bound them, but her small pocket knife was barely making progress against the thick ropes.

"Kaiba!" Joey called. "Get the small sack right next to you!" Kaiba glared at him, but did as he said. It had about seven or eight pokeballs in it. "Give it here!" Kaiba squeezed the sack through the net and Joey turned his back on it, having little reach with his arms secured behind his back. He fumbled with the sack, finally removing a hand full of pokeballs. "Scyther! If you're in there, come on out!" One of the pokeballs in his hand lit up, releasing the bug pokemon with scythes for hands. "Cut us out!"

"Wait! Joey! We're over the water now. If you cut us out, we'll all fall in!" Serenity cried, but it was too late. The Scyther cut and hacked at the net, causing Serenity's warning to come true. As they all plummeted into the waters below Misty called out for her water pokemon to aid.

Kaiba dove forward, swimming as hard and strong as he could to reach his little brother. He barely got withing ten feet of him before he watched as the ocean pulled him under. He took in a deep breath and dove under the surface, reaching and straining for Mokuba, but a swift current dragged him to the side. The brothers were caught in different currents, being pulled in opposite directions. Kaiba tried to reach the surface, but found no matter how he swam, he was sinking deeper and deeper. It didn't take much more before he completely blacked out.

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><p>"Kaiba?" A voice called out to him, but his eyes didn't want to open. He groaned as his head reeled and suddenly he felt nauseous. His body sat upright quickly and he turned to the side, retching up a salty liquid. He finally pried his eyes open, finding that they were held closed with a dry crusty salt. He felt awful in every way and place. When he turned back he saw Serenity sitting there. Her clothes and hair were dry, but stiff and she looked saddened.<p>

"Where are we?" He asked, finding his throat was as dry as the rest of him.

"I don't know. You're the only one I could find. I didn't want to travel too far on my own... but..." She glanced behind her, looking as if she wasn't quite herself. He scanned his surroundings, taking in the area for the first time. The each wasn't a very large one and there was an almost jungle like forest just as the sand ended. In the distance they could see a large mountain behind the trees.

"We still have our pokemon right?" He looked down at his belt and found all pokeballs in place. He glanced back up at her and found she had all of hers as well. Then there was only one thing they could do now. Find the rest of them.

He rose, dusting himself off. His clothes felt ten pounds heavier and were uncomfortable to move in. Serenity called out her Charmander and he did the same. The two small lizards shook themselves a bit and glanced around. Suddenly they both squealed out and rushed into the forest.

"Hey, wait!" Serenity called, running after it. Kaiba followed, curious as to why the pokemon would act like this. They followed the small lizards for over a half hour when finally they came to the foot of the mountain. They could see the Charmanders climbing and Serenity paused, looking up at him. He shrugged and started up after them. It took them half the day to catch up to them but when they finally reached the ledge the Charmanders were last seen climbing, both were stunned. There were dozens of them. Small fiery lizards everywhere, they couldn't discern their own from the flock.

Before Serenity could call out to her pokemon again, three giant orange dragons flew from the peak of the mountain, landing before them and roaring intimidatingly. Serenity jumped back, crashing into Kaiba who was too stunned to do anything. He was a sucker for dragons, but he had never seen a real one up close like this. And this dragon was angry.

The great beast snorted a hot puff of steam into his face and he could do little but step back. Serenity grabbed hold of his arm as the creature reeled forward, baring it's teeth at them and ready to bite when it stopped. The two off to the sides shifted as two Charmanders moved in front of them. The large one kept it's stare leveled on Kaiba as the two small ones approached. The larger of the Charmanders stopped in front of Kaiba while the small one ran up and hugged Serenity's leg.

She glanced down, knowing it was Ember, but when she moved to embrace her, the large dragon turned it's gaze on her.

"Don't move!" Kaiba said, swinging his arm out in front of her, and recapturing the dragons attention.

"Char!" His little one chirped at the dragon and it focused on him. Kaiba watched as the little lizard made noises In correspondence with it's own name and the dragon grunted and growled in return, as if they were speaking. Finally, the winged dragon sighed a fiery breath onto the little one, shot one last glare at Kaiba and began to move away.

"So... this is where you were taken from..." Serenity said, finally able to kneel next to Ember. The little lizard squeaked at her happily and hugged her. "Do you still have the map?" Serenity asked, looking up at Kaiba. She had wanted to ask earlier, but they were interrupted by the chase. He patted himself down and sighed.

"No." His eyes never wavered from the dragons and she could tell he wanted one. Those dragons... did they protect the small lizards? They seemed to live peacefully together. Even lovingly sometimes. He watched one of the dragons lay next to a Charmander and two larger lizards that differed a little in size and shape, but were practically the same thing. He glanced down at his Charmander, who was watching him, and sighed. What was the point in having a little pipsqueak like that when there were creatures like the dragon that could completely destroy it? Of course... it did talk... or whatever noises they made at each other, the dragon down.

He glanced over at Serenity, who was smiling and trying not to look scared, though she was failing. Why did he have to be stuck here alone with such a weak partner? He would almost prefer her brother. At least he could weigh his annoying attitude and voice against his physical abilities and eagerness. As she turned up to face him, he realized he was scowling. He fixed this, but too late. She sighed and looked away.

"Why do you hate me so much? What did I do to you?" He was getting sick of answering every little question.

"Why do you think? I'd say it's the same reason I hate most people, but there's something especially useless about you. You couldn't even find the rest of the group on your own could you?" He sneered. The creatures of the mountain all turned, captivated by the raised voices, but he didn't care. He was pissed. All he wanted was to find his brother. He almost got him too. He was so close. But now he was here, with her... "So why don't you shut up and listen to what I say from now on so you don't get in the way." He watched as tears lined her eyes and felt... guilty? This girl was poison to him, and he couldn't face her hurt.

"I... No." He had only just turned away but his eyes snapped back to her. "I'm not going to step on eggshells around you anymore. You're just a jerk who always thinks he's right and I don't need that to get me back to my brother. So I'll go be useless over here. " She started moving away, but his pride wouldn't let him follow. He could only look on as she slowly disappeared down the mountain side.

The night had fallen by the time Serenity had reached the shore again. She had a few run ins with some bug pokemon but they seemed rather disengaged with the notion of bothering her, so she was able to wander safely. Her Charmander had followed her down, but once the sky darkened, the Charmander started back up towards the mountain, pausing to see if Serenity would follow.

"You... you're going home aren't you? I guess... it's where you belong..." She knelt down next to the little one, hugging it. " I'm trying to go home too... But don't worry about me. You go right ahead. Go see your family. Just be safe, ok?" She said, determined not to go back to him. She kissed the lizard on the head and rose turning away from it. Ember moved a few feet into the forest, turned to face her one last time, then continued up, leaving the girl alone.

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**So, I'm going to rapidly upload the next few chapters all in the next half hour. I've been writing fast... Dont expect this often, but here**...

**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love ya!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

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The sun shimmered through the trees, waking Serenity. She had been up most of the night searching for any trace of her friends. She rounded a good distance of the beach with no end in sight. Her stomach grumbled as she sat up and she glanced around looking for something to eat. Pulling the pokeball from her belt at her side, she called Pidgy and the little bird chirped and bounced it's way onto her lap.

"Hey, do you think you could help me find some food?" She asked it and it cooed at her, flapping it's wings and launching into the air. It buzzed off into the trees as serenity looked for any fruit bearing bushes. After finding some food with Pidgy's help, she continued her search, looking for anything that would imply someone else's presence. What she found, though, made her lose faith entirely. After roaming another few hours, she looked out into the ocean and saw a series of small islands. Her and her friends could very well be spread across the islands and the ocean separating them looked exceedingly viscous. There was no way she could swim it.

After an hour of trying to see something or someone on what she could see of the other islands, she moved back to searching her own. It took another day before she had made her way around the entirety of the island and her fears were confirmed. No other tracks or signs of life other than her's and Kaiba's were present. She moved to a small creek she had been using for drinking water and decided to follow it to where it poured into a small pond. Her clothes chaffed her body, still stiff from the salt, so she wanted desperately to wash them, and her hair felt awful and kept tangling on branches and vines.

She moved into the pond, undressing once she was completely under and rubbed the clothes together under the water, shaking free the salt and other things clinging to the fabric. After her clothes were done, she hung them over a vine hovering near her.

The splashing noises caught his attention as he knelt to scoop up some water. The jungle like area was the worst to navigate, and he hadn't found any traces of his little brother or anyone else, which was beginning to worry him. He knew someone else was on the island with him. As much as he would deny searching for her, he had been paying attention to his surroundings and trying to keep an eye out for her. She was so small and quiet, it was hard to think she could survive out there for so long. He figured she had another day or so before she came crawling back, but the lack of evidence that she even existed was beginning to scare him.

He followed the water's edge to a small pond where he felt a wave of relief wash over him, followed by a more sinister one. He slipped through the bushes behind her and lifted the drying clothes from the vine she had them on. He waited patiently for her to finish and turn to her clothes. She paused, confused for a moment, then started wading in the water under the vine, sure they had fallen in.

"Looking for something." She shrieked and nearly jumped out of her skin as he made his presence known. He leaned casually against a tree, holding up her nearly dry clothes just out of reach. She fixed him with a glare and lifted a hand while lowering herself farther under the water so he couldn't see anything.

"Give them back." She said angrily. It seemed she was still upset with him from before. He couldn't blame her. She looked like she had been taking care of herself just fine. He felt bad, but wasn't about to apologize.

"You could just get up and get them." He teased. Her eyes narrowed on him and she swiped at something on the pond's edge and threw it at him. He turned, letting it bounce off his hip, not realizing what it was until too late. She was able to catch the now empty pokeball as her Pidgy swiped her clothes from him. He smirked down at her before turning to give her some privacy. He heard her rise from the water as he busied himself with cleaning the dirt from underneath his nails and leaning against another tree.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, I wanted to bathe, but looks like you've dirtied the pond and there isn't another clear water source on the island." She brushed past him, fully clothed and bumped into him purposefully as she moved.

"Looks like you'll have to deal." She started into the forest again, making him rethink his previous tactics. He was still being cruel despite how guilty he felt. Actually, he was being meaner. Seeing her in the pond... bare and vulnerable... He didn't know exactly how he felt. He didn't know why he felt the need to cover these emotions with cruelty. He knew he couldn't allow himself to feel for her... but did he really have to hurt her like this? He was turning her... cold.

"Serenity..." He called softly and she paused. She shot him a confused look but he couldn't find the words he had thought he wanted to say.

"Don't you mean... Wheeler?" He shook his head, sighing.

"Yeah... Wheeler... Have... Have you been able to find anyone?" He settled on changing the subject, not sure if he wanted to remember the reason he called out to her.

"They're not here."

"How can you be sure?"

"I checked all the beaches. If they washed up they would have left tracks or something. There's nothing. No trace." She said deflatedly.

"There are more islands to the north and north west." he pointed out but she shook her head.

"The waters are too strong. No one can swim that." He glanced behind him, unable to see the islands through the trees even though he knew where to look. "How... Have you seen Ember?" She looked up to him worriedly.

"The night you left she came back, but she left the next morning. I thought she came back to you. She hasn't been back there." Serenity's eyes widened.

"What?" Her voice broke a little and she started off into the woods. "She's so little... what if she's hurt?" She said to no one as she panicked a little, searching for her Charmander. A strong hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"That's what I thought about you. But you're fine." He said as she turned back to look at him.

"Are... are you trying to comfort me?" He pulled his hand back as if something had stung him and looked away.

"Please. Your panicking is just really annoying." She slowly turned back towards the forest, now more calmly searching as he looked her over. Yes, he was trying to comfort her, but he was kicking himself for it. Why was it so difficult to remain impassive? Why couldn't he find a happy medium between being an ass and… liking her?

Kaiba took the lead, not wanting to be behind her, looking at her the whole time. He led her back up towards the mountain, sure he was going in the right way to find the pokemon. Half the day went by just searching for Ember before they reached the top of the mountain again. He moved around some of the cliff face to a place Serenity hadn't been before and she could see the large dragons flying around a pillar jutting out of the ocean just off shore.

"Is... that where they live?" She asked in wonder. He nodded in front of her and continued on down the other side of the mountain. She had seen the pillar from the shore, but this high up she could see the caverns carved into the top and the pokemon flying around it.

"It gets steep here, watch your step." He said, turning back and offering his hand to steady her. "I haven't been down here too often because it's dangerous, but I've seen some of the Charmanders go down here." He said as he helped her down a few of the larger boulders. He was about to say something else but the sounds of creatures below them cut him off. They moved around the boulders blocking their view and Serenity gasped as she saw her Charmander laying sprawled across the rocky ground. Two small reddish foxes nudged it with their noses, poking at the poor thing.

Kaiba couldn't reach out in time to stop her from rushing down to Ember. The foxes darted back a few feet but took up aggressive stances, protecting the fire lizard. Serenity didn't care. She knelt before her Charmander and gently moved it over. The lizard stirred slightly and one of the foxes took off, fleeing while the other watched.

"Ember..." Serenity said, her voice cracking as she stroked the small thing.

"Ch-Cha..." It tried but she shushed it, afraid that it might hurt itself getting up. Fresh tears fell from her eyes as she scooped up the fragile little thing and hugged it. Kaiba moved up behind her, but the small fox jumped between them. He cocked an eyebrow at the tiny thing and went to move around it. A beam of fire let him know that was a bad idea and he froze.

He settled with watching from a distance as Serenity ripped strops of cloth from her shirt and bandaged Ember. The small fox turned, watching with fascination as she cared for her Charmander. It sat near her and she smiled down at it as she finished up.

"You should put it in it's ball so it doesn't get hurt again." Kaiba said, a little frustrated to have to keep the distance he was at, but still fully able to see her and her pokemon. She nodded lifting the ball to her pokemon. The small fox watched as she held the ball out and the Charmander reached forward and hit the little red button, zapping inside. Serenity wiped the tears from her eyes and stood, turning to the little fox.

"Thank you for watching my friend. I was worried about her." Serenity said, reaching down for the little thing to sniff her. It jumped back at first, but easily approached her and cooed at her happily. As she stood the little creature caught a glimpse of her belt of pokeballs. It stood against her leg, sniffing the things and Serenity smiled. "Hey, be careful. If you tap one of those, you might get stuck inside. You don't want to do that unless you want to come with me, ok?" She said, pulling an empty ball out for it to sniff. The little creature looked up at her, then to the ball the Charmander disappeared into, then back at her.

"Vul!" It squeaked before tapping the button. Serenity watched as the pokemon didn't struggle against the contraption at all.

"I guess... it wanted to come with..." Kaiba had to hide his smirk as she turned towards him. "Right... we should be getting back t-" Serenity started, but a sudden mist sprayed from the ocean's edge. Both her and Kaiba moved to the cliffs edge to get a better look, but the ground soon rumbled and the rock beneath them began to crack and shift. Kaiba tried to steady himself as the ground cracked beneath his feet. He moved to a solid piece of stone and looked up in time to watch as the rock beneath Serenity fell away.

"No!" He cried, reaching out for her, but it was too late. She let out a scream as she and the rock beneath her crashed into the forest below. He looked around for some way to get down, but the rock beneath him began to shift more, breaking away. As he braced himself, a large dragon landed next to him, offering him a step up. "Forget me, get her!" he said to the creature and it paused, but obeyed. It lunged down as he slid into the rock slide and the last thing he saw was Serenity, unconscious atop the beast.

When he finally came to, he found he had made it all the way to the beach. His mind snapped awake as he recalled the previous events to his passed out state and he shot up. His body reeled in pain as he tried to find his way to his feet. On the beach next to him were a bunch of splashing, panicking fish. He wandered over to the first. It was a large orange fish of what appeared to be below average intelligence. He lifted the fish gently and helped it back into the water, noticing as he raised it, that his right arm was in bad shape. The fish flopped around a bit, as if it had forgotten how to swim, but eventually got the hang of it.

He moved through the fish, setting them free and waiting for each to remember what should have been instinct before moving to the next. When there were only two left he turned to place one into the water, but jumped back. Out of the waves, a large blue dragon rose high in the air. It's body was like that of a Chinese dragon. Long and slender, with a large mouth and no arms or legs... from what he could tell. He slowly continued to release the fish, under the watchful eye of the dragon. Once they were all free he turned to it.

Was this the island of the dragons? He kept running into his favorite creature, face to face with the most powerful and terrifying things he had ever imagined. The dragon moved towards him, gaining on the shore slowly and Kaiba swallowed hard, but stayed put. If he had angered it, it would have charged him by now... right?

It moved steadily to him until it's giant face was right in front of him. He could feel a cold sweat com on as he waited for it's next move, but before it could happen, another of the orange fishes flew from the water, and past him. He cocked an eyebrow as he watched it soar and land on the sand next to him. He glanced back at the dragon and could have sworn it sighed. The dragon slithered up to the small fish and nudged it back into the water. So the dragons protected the little fish. It reminded him a little of himself and Serenity... Serenity! She was hurt in the rock slide. He needed to get to the Charmanders. Needed to get to her.

The water dragon watched as his head turned up towards the mountain top and let out a deep growl. Kaiba's head whipped around and the dragon was glaring at him. His blood ran cold as it got closer. He didn't know what exactly was wrong, but he had an idea that he was about to get sucked into it.

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**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love ya!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

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Serenity's eyes fluttered open and the world slowly moved into vision. She was facing the sky and could smell cinder and char. When lifting herself, she found her body was heavy and sore. She was atop the mountain plateau, surrounded by the Charmanders and other lizards and dragons. Her mind jogged awake as she remembered the rock slide. Kaiba...

She shot up and cried out as pain racked hr body. She tried to stand, looking towards the cliff that broke away, but immediately fell to the ground. Looking down at her legs, she found her ankle swollen and painful. It was impossible to walk on. She still tried to crawl along, fearing the worst, but before she could reach the steel decline, one of the dragons swooped down and intercepted her. It stared at her incredulously and refused to move as she tried to think of another way down to him. After a silent mental struggle, then a silent battle with the dragon, it proved too stubborn.

She was resigned to sitting on the plateau, waiting until the dragon deemed her healthy enough to be on her own. Of course... it did have a point. What exactly could she do in her state? Fall down the mountain and dig him out? It was foolish. She grabbed for her belt, removing the pokeballs and released her three pokemon. The little fox and Pidgy moved to Ember, who was still mostly unconscious. The little fire lizard faded in and out as Serenity stroked it and cuddled it.

One of the large dragons glanced over her and moved to the small Charmander. It looked between Serenity and the little lizard and glared, huffing hot air at her. She moved to the little one again, but the dragon pulled it away from her, keeping it's narrowed gaze on her the entire time. When Ember finally stirred it immediately crawled to Serenity, shocking the dragon, and curled in her lap. The dragon watched her and the little one interact with wonder.

Over the next week, her ankle's swelling went down and the pain had begun to subside. She spent a lot of time with the dragons and lizards and Charmanders, eventually getting close to them. Ember had been healing up as well. Serenity wasn't about to have her fight or do anything too stressful, but she was able to run around and play with the others.

Another tremor shook the ground and the dragons looked out to the ocean, towards the large pillar. The tremors happened infrequently, but enough to worry her, and the dragons response to it was scary as well. Finally, it was over and the larger dragon turned to her.

"What's the matter? Do you know what's causing this?" She asked, knowing whatever it's response was, she probably wouldn't understand. The dragon glanced back to the pillar, then lowered it's head, laying flat and lowering it's wings. "You... want me to get on?" She asked, but the dragon just watched her. She stepped over it's long neck and straddled it's shoulders. The dragon lifted itself, and her, and it's wings moved powerfully, raising the creature into the air. It started towards the pillar at amazing speeds and Serenity clung to it, her fear of heights taking over.

The dragon twisted and dove into one of the caves carved from the top of the pillar, landing swiftly and lowering itself to let Serenity off. She climbed down gently and looked around. The dimply lit caves were filled with large eggs. Guarding them were two more dragons that Serenity hadn't seen before.

She covered her mouth as she realized, these caves were the dragon's breeding grounds. Another tremor hit, causing two of the eggs to roll from a nest towards the mouth of the cavern. The dragon she rode quickly wrapped it's tail around on, saving it from the fall while Serenity rushed after the other, grabbing it at the last moment. The dragons watched her warily as she lifted the fragile thing gently and brought it back to the nest. After placing it inside she fluffed the next around it, giving it a secure place to sit and rose again, facing the dragon.

The beast slid the other egg over to her and watched as she did the same for it, making it so the egg wouldn't be shaken loose anymore. She smiled up at the dragon when she was finished and it looked at her curiously. She could tell it didn't get much human interaction, or if it did, it wasn't very good. She hoped it didn't think of her as an intruder or someone willing to hurt it.

"What's making these tremors?" She asked carefully, looking into the dragons eyes. It turned it's head to the mouth of the cave and looked down at the waters below. Serenity moved to get a better view and tried to see all the way to the waters below. After finding her focus she could see clearly three or four serpent like creatures rising from the tides and crashing down as another tremor started. The orange dragon leaped from the cave and swooped down, blasting a fiery breath down on them.

Now that the dragon had entered the same distance from her as the water serpents, Serenity could see the serpents were giant, longer and thinner than the orange dragon. It swooped twice more, blasting more torrents of fire down on the water, but the serpents ducked under, using the ocean's surface as a shield, popping up as the dragon passed and blasting their own torrents of water at it. The tremors stopped as the serpents disappeared and the dragon landed atop the pillar once more.

"I see." She said, looking away. She didn't know how to possibly help these creatures, but she knew she wanted to... if only there was a way to communicate with the pokemon...

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><p>"What the hell do you think you're doing over there?" Kaiba shouted as the large dragon aimed and blasted a jet of water at a swooping orange one. The fire dragon returned to the top of the pillar and the water dragon turned back to face him. He was getting sick of this rivalry or whatever was between the two. He had tried several times to move back to the mountain, but was sprayed by an angry water beast for even thinking of it. He sighed, glaring at the thing. He had gotten used to it being around, and could even yell at it, but the one thing he couldn't control was whether he was allowed to leave or stay. The dragon decided for him that he should stay with it.<p>

He continued to strengthen his arm with the practice of helping the stupid orange fish back into the water when they decided to endanger themselves and "visit" him. He was almost completely healed, but was still stuck on the beach with the clingy water dragon. He marched into the tides and slapped the thing on it's scales. He was sure it could barely feel him, but it got the hint.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked it frustratedly. The dragon brushed it's head against his torso, pushing him slightly, and he just petted it. It nuzzled him a while longer then lowered itself into the water next to him. He looked at the beast with a cocked eyebrow, wondering what it was doing halfway in the water, and it brushed against his legs. "Giving me a lift eh?" he said to it, lifting one leg and placing himself over it. It lifted him into the air and began to move out into the sea.

They reached the base of the pillar and Kaiba turned to the sky, looking out for any fire breathing dragons that were still fly by attacking. The coast was clear and the creature looked up at him. For a moment he was confused, but the creature began to move under the water and he was forced to hold on and take a deep breath as he was dragged down. Once he was under the dragon moved quickly, showing him around the base of the pillar. Before they could finish, though, a great tremor shook the very foundation of the pillar and he watched as several opaque eggs at the base shook free and floated around in the waters.

He watched as more of the dragons swam through the water, capturing the eggs in their mouths and placing them back at the base of the pillar. His body twitched as it demanded air and he pulled at the dragon beneath him. As if it read his mind, the dragon raced to the surface, giving him the much needed air.

"So what's causing this?" He asked after catching his breath. The pokemon looked towards the pillar, as if staring through it and Kaiba glanced up the length of it. Finally the pokemon signaled that it was going to dive again, and Kaiba could do little other than breath deeply and hold on. They glided through the waters, circling the pillar rapidly and there was a large metal grate at the bottom of it. He watched as another of the dragons rammed into the grate, shaking the entire structure. Immediately, the pillar began to shake and move, as if in response to the assault.

They went back to the surface again, but once they emerged, the dragon's attention was brought to the shore. Kaiba was pulled back to the island and was able to dismount the dragon when close enough to land. The fire dragons had been traveling back to the mountain and the water dragons decided to follow them, keeping a weary eye on them as they moved.

Serenity rode the large orange pokemon all the way back to the plateau, but something seemed off. As she slid off of it, it turned it's head to the shoreline where she could see three large serpents waiting. But there was also something else. A small form on the beach, in front of the three. It was Kaiba. She was sure of it. Her eyes widened as the entire ocean drew back. A massive wave formed in the distance, gathering size and power, and right in it's path, stood Kaiba.

She raced down the side of the mountain, ignoring the twinges of pain her ankle still felt as she made her way to him. It took her longer than she had hoped, but she was able to make it in time. He was there. It was really him. He was alive and well, facing the massive water pokemon.

"Kaiba!" She cried, running to him and he turned, shocked and somewhat relieved to see her as well. "What are they doing?" She asked worriedly as the serpents moved back and forth, stirring the waters beneath them.

"I think they're trying to attack." He said, unsure of how to stop this. Before she could say anything else, the three fire dragons landed roughly behind her. They growled, ready to respond to the attacks from the sea and Serenity jumped out before them.

"Wait!" She cried, and amazingly enough, they did. Kaiba glanced back at her again and she gave him a worried 'what now?' look.

"The water dragons are upset because the pillar quakes are disrupting their breeding grounds." He explained.

"Same with the fire dragons... they think the water ones are doing it." She said back to him, and a thought crossed his mind.

"They're not, but I think I may know what is." He started marching into the ocean, the water rising to his waist and Serenity called out to him.

"But what about them? What am I supposed to do?" he paused, but only for a moment.

"Hold them off. Stall them. Do anything." He said, and called out to the dragon he had become familiar with. It went to him, glaring at the fire dragons all the way. "Take me to the cage." He said, lifting himself onto it's back. The dragon pulled him across the water's surface and when it got close enough, down to the grates below. Once in front of the metal, he swam away from the pokemon, taking a closer look at it. It was definitely man made. The bars were forged steel and there was a small lock on one end. He looked around until he found a decent sized rock and began hammering into the metal.

He had to take a small air break, but eventually the lock gave away and he was able to swing open the door. He swam inside, hoping he wouldn't get stuck and emerged next to a large blue creature. It backed away from him quickly, slamming into the hollowed out edge of the pillar and causing the entire thing to shake.

"All of this because of you?" He asked it. The thing looked terrified. It pulled away and wouldn't let him get close. He tried extending an arm out to it, but the thing only winced. "Hey, I'm here to help you. No one's going to hurt you." he tried to say reassuringly. The thing looked at him cautiously and he slowly swan up to it. "Here. See?" He finally touched the thing on the nose, gently petting it and soothing it. "You've been stuck here for a while haven't you? You're free now. Come on." He said, wading away from it. The creature jumped at him as he moved, almost as if it didn't want him to leave. That's exactly what he wanted.

Taking a breath, he let himself sink under the water and began to swim towards the hole. The creature, remained, though, unwilling to just move. He had to get it to leave. Had to stop it from thrashing about in the cave. It was causing a war, and it was going to get dangerous if he didn't do something quick. He reached down to his belt, pulling out a pokeball. He sighed, not wanting to do it, but threw it at the creature, trapping it inside. The ball sank below the surface and he dove under to retrieve it. The button was flickering red and white, and continued to do so. He had to get it out of the pillar before the pokemon broke free.

He swam for the cave's exit and finally made it through. The dragon was waiting there and helped him ascend to the surface. Once he could breath again, he instructed the dragon to take him back to shore. He could see that the large wave was now gone and Serenity was off in the distance, still moving and talking with the fire dragons. He leaped off the giant water beast and moved to Serenity, glancing down to see that the red button had long faded to white, and the water creature was his.

"What... happened?" She said, grateful that he had returned.

"I found the cause of the tremors." He said, gaining the attention of both types of dragons. He held up the pokeball and smirked. "It was this." He threw out the pokeball, releasing the water pokemon within it. The creature, now in the light of day, had four fins, a long neck and a large turtle like shell on it's back. It immediately tried to distance itself from the people, but ended up backing into the water dragons. "It didn't mean to do it. It was trapped and trying to get out. But that's done now. So you two don't have to fight anymore." He said strictly. The fire dragons, glanced at each other and decided to check on their eggs, leaving well enough alone and the blue dragons started back towards their watery home. Except one.

Kaiba turned to look the dragon he had become close with in the eye. It circled the new pokemon, and Kaiba could tell it felt more comfortable with the dragon then him. He sighed looking down tiredly. He was soaked and exhausted and just wanted to go home. After he found Mokuba of course.

"Maybe... you two should stick together." He said to the pokemon. The dragon swam to him, as he was still in the water, and circled him. It nuzzled him and swept up under his arm forcing him to pet it and he smiled. He linked eyes with the other pokemon and it slowly approached him. He reached out to it and it accepted his touch warily, but soon cuddled closer to him.

"Who'd have thought Seto Kaiba had a heart?" Serenity said, smiling behind him. He had almost forgotten she was there. He turned to her, smile fading and looked her over. Her shirt was ripped and her hair was a mess. She still had a few bruises from the fall and her left leg looked seriously beaten up. But she was safe. They both were. And what was better was now they had rides to the other islands.

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**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love ya!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

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Kaiba really wanted to travel to the next island, but night was just around the corner and he was completely exhausted. Serenity didn't look any better as well, making their stay in the island one night longer. He moved to sit on the beach and winced as his arm stung. It was better as a muscular problem, but there was still a rather large gash along his forearm. It hadn't healed properly, with the salt water and constant need to use it. As a matter of fact, he had noticed a dull stinging constantly throbbing ever since he first was submerged in the water. He was able to block most of it out, but now that he was trying to relax, it proved more annoying and loud than before.

"Kaiba... you're bleeding." Serenity pointed out, drawing further attention to the injury. He glanced down and lifted his sleeve. The salt water had dried out the skin, making it crack and bleed. He needed to clean the thing. She reached down and gently pulled at the hurt arm, not touching the wound but helping him to a standing position. She led him into the forest, where the small creek fed into the pond and knelt next to it. Out of her pocket, she pulled a few of the strips of cloth that she used on Ember before out.

She dipped them into the freshwater and ringed them out, one by one. Finally she tugged at his hand, pulling him down next to her and dabbed at the open gash. She used two of them to clean away the salt, sand, dirt and blood, then the other to tie it off. Why hadn't he thought of that? He could have used a strip of fabric from his own shirt. It would have been a softer material and it wouldn't itch like hers did. He glanced down at his arm again. It didn't sting like before. It actually felt a lot better. His eyes wandered over the girl, who was now washing his blood out of the strips she had left and putting them away in her pocket. She leaned back, now finished and smiled up at him.

"Better?" She asked, still smiling. He slowly nodded and turned back to the beach where he could hear the water dragon thrashing about, upset about his absence. She giggled and started back to the shore, pausing for him to catch up. She was so... happy. Innocent. Kind... blood rushed to his cheeks as he mentally barred himself from thinking about her that way. He didn't need a woman around. He didn't need anything. Though... he couldn't lie, in this lighting... she was rather... attractive. As they neared the waterline, he slipped off his famous silver jacket and hung it over his arm.

Serenity stopped and breathed in the crisp clean air and turned to him. The dragon had settled and was now playing with the turtle like creature in the waves. Kaiba fanned out his jacket, laying it onto the beach as he's done several times before. His eyes never left hers and she ended up looking away cautiously, facing the sea. She glanced down and bent, readying to sit on the cool beach sand, but he was suddenly behind her. His heart raced as he could feel the warmth from her body. Her eyes snapped up to his and he raised one brow.

"Here, sit." He said, guiding her to the jacket. After placing her, he also sat, eyes locked on her. The moonlight cast a slight glow against her skin and he lifted his hand to brush away some stray hairs, but he paused. What was he doing? He shouted and yelled at himself for even entertaining the notion of intimacy with her, but finally his mind retorted with a simple "screw it" and he sighed. He tangled his fingers in her fiery hair and pulled her chin up as he stared into her wide eyes. She didn't pull away as he leaned into her, pressing his lips against hers and making her gasp.

When they parted his mind cried out for him to get a grip. She was just a girl. No, worse, she was a Wheeler. But she was so soft... and she tasted sweet and fresh. His brain was warring with itself inside his skull, but his body moved on it's own. He kissed her again, then again, tender and gentle, unlike any other time before. When they finally broke apart he opened his eyes and saw that she had yet to open hers. She let out a stuttered breath and he smiled. He had her. She was easily under his charm. But he had to stop. He couldn't do more. Not with her. No matter how nice she felt. No matter how good he felt with her.

"K-Kaiba..." He heard her whisper. Her voice had something musical in it. Something he wasn't used to. She was just so different than the girls he was used to... or maybe this was just a product of him being separated from society for too long. He glanced down and couldn't help but smirk, rising from his spot next to her.

"You should get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow." He said, moving to the waters and petting the dragon that swam to meet him. Serenity blushed as she laid down and her hands ran over the silk lining of his coat. She breathed in deeply as sleep started to take over. Her last thought as she fell into the lull of slumber was how much the jacket underneath her smelled like him.

The morning light woke her as a fresh mist from a crashing wave kissed her skin. She yawned and stretched, sitting up and glancing about. She didn't see Kaiba anywhere, nor did she see the dragon or turtle-thing. She was about to call out when a pile of fruit fell next to her. She turned and Kaiba stood over her, slightly out of breath. He knelt down next to her and pushed the fruit onto his jacket. She moved off of it, allowing him to wrap the fruit in the coat and tie it off.

"For the trip, just in case." He explained, lifting the bundle and moving towards the water. She glanced down at her pokeballs, knowing how well her Pidgy could collect fruit, then back at him. The sun was barely up. He must have either woken very early or not slept, either way it would have been better with some help.

"You should have woken me, I would have helped." He paused for a moment and turned to look at her. There was something playful in his eyes as he smirked. She could tell something was different with him. He seemed warmer, not as distant or mean. She still didn't know why he had kissed her, but it was something she hadn't felt before. His warmth, his gentle touch, his soft lips... she had only ever seen him as something to be fears. Someone who didn't care for much other than himself and his brother. She knew there was more to him, but he never wanted to show anyone that, and she respected it. Now it was all different.

"It's done now." He said, still smirking as he strode into the water. "Come on." He called to her, then put his hand in his mouth and let out a loud whistle. The dragon tore through the ocean, making it's way speedily to him and finally lowered it's head and let him climb on. He reached down towards Serenity, offering his hand to her and letting her climb on behind him. She hugged his waist securely and he instructed the dragon to swim towards the nearest island. The ride had some bumps in the turbulent waters, but they were able to safely cross. The beach they landed on showed obvious signs of life and they glanced at each other excitedly.

Calls for their friends started immediately as they dismounted. Though, the closer they got to the inlaid forest, the more agitated the dragon became in the water. Kaiba stopped and stared back at it frustratedly, then started for it. Serenity decided to wait where she was and watch from a distance, wanting to follow him, but figuring he had everything under control.

"If you really cant stand being away from me, get in the ball." He said, holding it out. The dragon paused, looking at the thing. It had seen Kaiba release and call back the other sea pokemon several times, but this one was never in one. "If not, I'm just going to leave you here." He said threateningly. That did the trick. The beast leaned forward and tapped the ball, willingly entering it of it's own accord and Kaiba was able to turn back away and start again towards the forest.

Serenity moved behind him, allowing him the lead as they followed the trails into the island. They called and called, waiting for any sign of response as they moved. This island was longer but thinner than the other. From the center they could see the ocean on both sides through the trees. They continued up the length of it and in the distance could see the end of the strip of land. Serenity glanced up at him wondering where the "life forms" they had seen sign of were. There had been no pokemon at all atop this island and she was beginning to think it was some sort of a joke.

Before she could voice these concerns a dark hole caught her attention and she stopped. Kaiba paused a moment later, wondering if she had spotted something important and turned to the direction she was facing. It was a small hole in the earth, big enough for a person to fit in, but small enough to be easily concealed. He started towards it and she let him lead once again, but as he stepped over the ground to close the distance, it seemed to sink beneath him. It wasn't until she screamed that he knew what had happened. He weakened the ground beneath them and it could no longer hold Serenity's weight. She was falling in.

He stopped and spun on the spot, reaching for her, but their combined weight was enough to bring him down as well. They both finally hit solid ground and Serenity let out a pain filled 'Omf!' from under him. He lifted himself immediately, trying not to further injure her and she squirmed beneath him. He had heard the crunch sound her back made when they landed, and he pulled her up, looking it over. He moved to lift the back of her shirt and she pushed at him harshly.

"No!" She cried, but froze as he did. "I... I'm sorry... I didn't mean it! I just..." She tried but he shook his head.

"Never mind." He lifted himself, put off from helping someone who didn't want it. He was trying to do something kind for a change, and as he had imagined, he was only ever pushed away. Fine. If she didn't want his help, he wouldn't offer it anymore.

"Kaiba, wait." Against his will, his body did. "It's not that I don't appreciate it, I just..." She hugged her mid section, looking vulnerable and shy. He could almost see her shaking. "I cant... even if you're just trying to help, I cant." He had a sinking feeling in his gut at what could be causing her to act this way.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said frustratedly, turning his body to face her. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes and confused him. He slowly moved to her and circled his arms around her. She was pressed against his chest as he slowly lifted the shirt off of her back. He was positioned so he was not able to see anything too revealing, just her back. He felt her fingers clench around his shirt as hers rose higher and higher, but he had to stop. A large ugly scar marred her otherwise soft and smooth skin. He continued to raise the shirt, uncovering more and more of them until finally he found the fresh gash.

She had landed on a sharp rock and there was still dirt embedded in the skin. It would become infected if left untreated. His fingers grazed one of the scars and she shivered and moved from his touch, pressing against him more as she avoided his hands. Her body was trembling and he could almost feel the fear coming out of her as she began to hyperventilate.

"Shh. Breath. Just breath." He said gently to her. She began to breath more deeply, listening to him as he lowered her shirt. They didn't have any clean water with them, so there was little he could do. Even though she was now covered and moving away from him, the image of the scars remained etched in his mind. He knew the pains of abuse and cruelty, but his abuser knew better than to leave a mark. Hers... didn't seem to care.

"Kaiba?" A voice called from behind and he jumped away from her. It was Tea. Serenity rose and ran to her, giving her a big hug. She was obviously much more comfortable with women then men, making him wonder if maybe... no... He was annoying but not... It couldn't be Joey. The very thought made him want to punch something. Family was supposed to take care of each other. She glanced at him and he froze. There was something haunting in her eyes. He wanted to be near her again. To tell her it was alright.

"Hey, you found people!" He heard Yugi's voice call. His body straightened and he turned to face his rival. "Kaiba, Serenity, It's so good to see other people." He said slightly out of breath as he finished running up to them from deep within the cave. "Are you ok?" He asked, noting the small amount of blood on the ground.

"I'm fine, just had a hard fall." Serenity said with a smile. Kaiba wondered how she could rapidly switch between absolute fear and a kind smile, but remembered when he had been going through the torments of his adoptive father, how he would switch between the terror and a cold and icy exterior, uncaring and unfeeling. The part that confounded him the most was, she was able to fake a smile throughout it. He could barely handle being able to feel.

"Oh, let me help you with that." Tea Said, grabbing one of her pokeballs and releasing a small blue seahorse creature. "Hey, can I have a little clean water?" She asked it and it complied, spraying a gently stream of water out. "Boys leave." Tea said, standing between Serenity and the males. Kaiba could see her staring at him, worry returning to her features. He tilted his head and shot her a look, letting her know she would have to make a move if she wanted him to do something about it.

"Actually," Serenity started, gaining the attention of everyone else. She was having a difficult time with her words, so Kaiba moved around Tea and stood beside her. Yugi and Tea looked between themselves, then back to the two in front of them.

"She'd be more comfortable with me assisting." He said for her, not patient enough to wait. Tea looked at him incredulously, then to her.

"Is... that so?" She asked and Serenity nodded. Tea and Yugi moved around a bend, leaving the two alone with Tea's seahorse. Kaiba asked it to provide more water and cleaned her up.

"Who did it?" He finally asked. He needed to know. People who did this sort of thing to other people needed to be stopped. The girl in front of him remained silent as he finished and lowered the clothing over her. "Who?" He repeated, knowing she wouldn't answer unless prompted more. She couldn't bring herself to face him, but she didn't have to. He reached around and cupped her cheek, turning her head to him.

"I... I cant..." She said, trying to escape his grip. He kneeled next to her and pulled her closer.

"Kaiba, what are you doing?" Tea called, peeking around the bend. He didn't look back at her.

"Can we have a moment?" He asked frustratedly.

"No. What makes you think we trust you?" Tea said as she waltzed up to him and yanked on his arm. Kaiba winced visibly as she grabbed his wound.

"No, be careful!" Serenity cried, pulling it gently back towards her and out of Tea's surprised grip. She lifted his sleeve and checked the wound. It had re-opened, but was still clean. She re-bandaged it with the now loose strip of cloth and fixed his sleeve over it. Tea was thoroughly confused and continuously glanced between the two. They seemed to be in their own little world.

"Serenity, I need to talk to you." She said, glaring up at Kaiba as he rose. He sneered at her and turned away, moving towards Yugi.

"We're not done." Kaiba said to the sitting girl as he left. She didn't know what she wanted to avoid more. Her talk with Tea or the one with Kaiba. Either way, she was stuck.

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**So that brings an end to the epic upload massacre of 2012! please dont forget to review! Toodles! **

**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love ya!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

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"Kaiba, Really? Joey's going to kill you." Tea said, throwing her hands in the air. She had been shouting and didn't care if Kaiba or Yugi heard her. What she had to say made sense.

"Nothing's going on, we've been working together to survive. I... I trust him." She admitted. Kaiba and Yugi could hear the entire ordeal. He could practically hear the anger steaming out of Tea.

"He's insane! All he cares about is himself. He's probably just using you to satisfy some primal urge or to annoy your brother. Why would you fall for that?"

"I don't know what your history is with him, or what Joey's is. All I hear all day is your side. No one ever stops to try to listen to his. You are my friends, but he's a human being too. Hasn't anyone considered him?" Yugi glanced up at Kaiba while they listened to the girls argue. He was leaning against the cave wall with his arms folded. His expression was unreadable, but Yugi could tell their words were effecting him.

"Considered... He's a monster. He ripped up Yugi's grandpa's prized possession in front of him. He's only ever treated us like dirt. Serenity, you can be nice, but don't get involved. He'll just hurt you. He's not worth it." For a moment Serenity looked as if she was starting to agree with Tea, but her last sentence... She snapped out of it and linked eyes with Tea.

"Who are you to judge who is or isn't worth it? He might not be worth it to you, but I hold higher worth in people. Everyone deserves at least a little decency. He hasn't done anything too horrible to me. I trust him, and if you really were my friend, you'd trust my decision. I'm not forcing you to be nice to him, but I refuse to treat him the way you and my brother do. Even Yugi understands that. He's always nice to Kaiba-"

"And Kaiba's always horrible to him. Do you understand? It doesn't matter how nicely you treat him, if he's not getting anything out of it, he'd rather throw you to the wolves than help."

"That's enough." Kaiba was getting sick of her trash talking. He was mostly used to bad reps in the tabloids, but this was getting annoying. He stepped back out into the chamber where Serenity and Tea stood. Tea spun to face his voice, offering him a glare and Serenity looked like a scarred lamb behind her. "You got your talk, now it's my turn." He said meeting and returning her glare. Tea paused for a moment, looking pleadingly at Serenity, then moved around the bend to Yugi. Kaiba knew she would try to listen in, so he took Serenity's arm and moved her as far from the bend as possible. "Serenity, I want to know who cause those scars." He stated plainly. He wasn't in the mood for a long argument, but this was the type of unforgivable crime that he just couldn't let go of.

"Kaiba... I cant tell." She said again. It was getting more and more frustrating.

"You said you trust me. Was that a lie?" He looked her in the eye and she shook her head. "Then let me know. Tell me. I can make it stop. I can make it go away." He said, his eyes softening as he lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. Her eyes had unfocussed and he could tell that she was deep in thought. When his fingertips brushed against her skin, it was like a volt of electricity through her. Her face reeled back as she jerked away, an instinct long embedded into her. He remembered a time where he couldn't bear the thought of someone touching him either. Sometimes he still couldn't.

"I've only ever told one person before... It... It cost them their life..." She admitted and his blood ran cold. Whoever was doing this had taken a life. If they were willing to kill to keep this secret... Kaiba feared the worst for her.

"I'm not just anyone. I'm not that easy to kill. People try it all the time, and I'm still here... Please." Serenity's eyes shot back to his. She had never heard him say please before. He had only ever demanded information. He was serious and she felt. Comfortable. What made him care so much? What changed in him that made him so... sweet?

"It was a cop." She started, unable to hold his gaze as she broke the rule she feared the most. "I told a police officer. He came with me to the house to investigate... and he killed him. Then... as a punishment..." Tears lined her eyes as she spoke and she buried her face in her legs, sitting in a fetal position. "he killed her... my mom. In front of me." Kaiba's heart stopped. He had seen physical abuse, but to witness something so brutal... so life shattering... How did she make it?

"Serenity, he cant hurt you here. Tell me. He wont know what hit him. Who is it?" He prompted again. He couldn't keep still, waiting for a name, something, something for him to be able to do.

"It's... my father. Joey doesn't know. Dad... Dad let him move out on his own so long as I didn't tell him. As long as I keep this a secret, Joey can be free of him. If he finds out I told anyone... He said he'd kill him." She wept. Kaiba had no control over himself. He pulled her against him and held her close, hugging her and muttering soothing words to her.

How could something so fragile and sweet endure such torture. The emotional and physical damage, the threats, the stress, and still, she put on a smile every day. She thought only of others. He envied her. Her strength and constitution. He had fallen to the abuse. He became cold and distant. He pushed everyone away, for fear that they would hurt him as well. Caring about people has only ever hurt him or them, and either way, he was tortured inside for it. And here, in his arms was a girl willing to befriend even him. Someone who had shown only cruelty and hate to her closest family and friends.

"He wont find out. Not until it's too late. I'll make sure of it. But we have to get home first. I'll need your help." Serenity was once again shocked by him. "You trusted me. I'm going to trust you." She could sense a hesitation in his voice, but his words comforted her nonetheless. She nodded and smiled up at him and he could feel his breathing slow. She did things to him, and he was actually alright with it.

"Are you two done already?" Tea said, barging in as Kaiba had done to her. She stopped for a moment, seeing Serenity's face buried in Kaiba's chest and shot her a disapproving look. Yugi finally came out, respectfully nodding to them and smiling. Kaiba glanced over him once. What Serenity said was true. He had only ever been kind to him, and though he respected him as a rival, he was cruel to him as a person. Perhaps he was being unfair. Tea on the other hand, he could care less about. She preached friendship and practiced hate.

"Hey Kaiba, How did you get here?" Yugi asked as he moved next to the two. Kaiba rose, bringing Serenity up with him.

"We fell in." He said plainly, glancing up at the light flickering in. Yugi laughed and Tea rolled her eyes.

"No, I meant, how did you get to the island." He said, fixing his mistake.

"I caught a few sea pokemon. They're big enough to carry all of us." He said proudly. One of which was a dragon that he was especially proud of, even if it was a little clingy. "How... do we get out of here?" He asked, glancing up at the light again. Yugi smiled and gripped his own pokeball.

"That's easy, c'mon out." He beckoned and his pokemon appeared. It was the oddest thing to see. A humanoid type pokemon with a fox like head and a thick tail holding a spoon stood before them. "Can you get us all to the surface?" Yugi asked his pokemon. The creature nodded and Yugi called everyone over to gather around it and once they were in place, a flash of golden light blinded them momentarily and when vision returned, they were on the surface of the island.

"That's... a powerful pokemon." Kaiba observed. His competitive side wondered if he had more powerful pokemon and who would win in a fight, but he shook the thoughts out of his head until at least the entire group was reunited. They walked towards the water when Kaiba paused. When they all reunited... Serenity would have her brother. He wouldn't be allowed near her. He didn't want to cause an argument. He didn't want to drive a wedge between them. No. Once they were all together, it would be just him and Mokuba. Like it should be. At least until they got home. Then he had something he needed to do.

The sun was high in the sky and Kaiba figured it was around noon. They had enough time to maybe hit two more islands before it got dark. He pulled out his two pokeballs and called forth his turtle like pokemon and dragon. He turned to the others and smirked as they looked up at the creatures in awe.

"You two ride the dragon. This one... Has trust issues." He said slowly moving to the large finned creature. He petted it's head and called for Serenity to approach it. "She's nice. She wont hurt you." He said soothingly to it and it hesitantly allowed her to touch it.

"You're... Beautiful." She said and the creature responded happily. He knew it wouldn't take much for it to warm up to her. She was just so likeable. He helped her climb atop it, then mounted it himself. The dragon allowed Yugi and Tea to board it under Kaiba's shout and glare. It took his commands, even though it was at least fifteen times his size. They rode past the next island on to a larger one the farthest to the north. The smaller islands they passed had no signs of life and had barely any ground to search.

The island they landed on was half mountainous and half forest, like the first Kaiba and Serenity had washed up on. There were no recent marks or paths on the beach but Serenity had spotted a hammock hanging from one of the trees closer to the shore. As they approached it they saw that it was woven from long thin leaves, and the poor thing had seen better days. There was a large hole in the middle, as if someone fell through it and Serenity smiled.

"This has Joey written all over it." She said, lifting the broken seat. Yugi laughed and Tea nodded. Kaiba led the way through the forest, but it was easy to navigate. The trees were thinly spaced and the beach on both sides of the island were in sight. The Mountain had many caves carved into it by one thing or another, and Kaiba figured that was where they would be staying if they were in fact there.

Once at the foot of the mountain, they heard a screech from somewhere deep inside the caverns. The group looked among themselves and then back towards the mountain.

"What do you think-" Tea started, but a series of screams cut her off. The group was definitely there. Kaiba was the first to charge forth. If something was fighting them, he had to be there. He couldn't let anything happen to Mokuba and the creatures in this world were powerful beyond words. Yugi and the girls followed, calling their pokemon to the field.

Yugi's pokemon consisted of the small bundle of vines that had tripped Kaiba in the forest, a pink rhinoceros with large ears and the teleporting pokemon with the spoon. Tea called hers and honestly Kaiba would have laughed if the situation was different. She had two small pink creatures that looked like marsh mellows. One held a small microphone and the other had black tipped ears. She decided to keep her seahorse in it's ball, as it was natural to the sea and had trouble moving without water. Kaiba sent out his Spearow and Charmander but kept his two sea pokemon inside. Serenity let out Ember, Pidgy and the small fox.

Now that they had proper protection they made their way into the winding caverns. It looked like all of the caves were connected, but the labyrinth of tunnels made it impossible to know where they would end up. The constant noises and screaming helped them find the right tunnels to go down. The earth around them became warmer and warmer. Kaiba was a full ten strides ahead of them and when he stopped and suddenly turned back they all barely had time to react. He dove to the side, grabbing Serenity and shielding her body with his. Yugi and Tea were right behind them but dove to the ground as a column of fire blasted out past them. The angle of the blast left everyone unharmed, but Kaiba did get a little singed.

"It's in there." He said, facing the section of tunnel he had just fled. He started to step back but Serenity's hands were still gripping his shirt.

"Be careful." She knew him already. He was planning on entering first.

"You too." He said, lingering a moment longer then moving around the bend. Serenity glanced down at Yugi and Tea, helping them to their feet, then moved into the area that Kaiba had run towards.

"Lets go, he'll need backup." She said, finding a strength she didn't realize she had. Inside, the chamber was huge. It opened into a large circular room where the floor broke away into a huge pit about fifteen feet in. The room was hotter than hell and upon further inspection lava was flowing through the walls into the crevasse below.

Flying over the pit full of lava, a giant bird of flames was spraying fire across the fifteen by forty foot stretch of land that was reachable. Joey, Mai Mokuba and Tristan ran, dodging the blasts and commanded their pokemon to retaliate. They could recognize Joey's scythed pokemon, along with a Starmie that apparently belonged to Mai, and Tristan's Pinsir and Mankey. With the rest of them was a small turtle controlled by Mokuba, an armadillo like creature and a stone rhinoceros, controlled by Joey, a cougar like cat following Mai's orders and some sort of burrowing creature added to Tristan's group. Kaiba grabbed the pokeball with his dragon in it and called it out.

"Douse that bird." He commanded coolly. The dragon appeared behind him and immediately let out a burst of water at the bird. It dodged nimbly and the dragon continued it's assault. Mokuba ran to Kaiba, hugging him, then turned to his small turtle.

"Get it!" The little Kaiba cried, and it began to spurt water streams at the bird along side the dragon. Mai followed suit with her Starmie and between the three of them, they were able to actually hit the bird. Unfortunately it looked like it didn't do much at all against it. The battle raged on, forcing Tristan Joey and Yugi to remove their bug and plant pokemon from the fray. The Charmanders and Serenity's fox were also called back as their attacks seemed to do absolutely nothing to the bird. It screeched, swooping to attack Kaiba's dragon, it's largest perceived threat. The bird rammed the water dragon against the cavern wall, knocking it near unconscious. Kaiba called it back just as the bird slammed it's razor sharp talons down on where it was.

"Sleepy time! Sing it a song, sweetie." Tea called to her pink puff ball with a microphone. The pokemon began to sing as Tea, Yugi and their respective pokemon covered their ears. Kaiba decided it was better to follow suit and ask questions later. He Bumped Mokuba, hinting that he should do the same and glanced over the others. Mai had already covered hers, but Serenity had her arms full with her Pidgy, who had been struck down when the fire bird swooped, and Joey and Tristan were busy yelling orders.

Those that covered their ears couldn't hear the song, but the effects became obvious after only a moment. The pokemon and people who could still hear slowly began to fall, one by one, until they were all asleep. The fire bird fell out of the air, threatening to crush Kaiba and Mokuba, but Mokuba was ready. Before the pokemon could hit them, the pokeball clicked open, trapping it inside. The thing struggled for an eternity, the subconscious power of it already too much for the simple contraption to handle.

Finally, the light faded, and Mokuba got a new pokemon.

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**Another update and the group is back together again. What do you think so far? Let me know. **

**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love ya**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

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Everyone stood, stunned at Mokuba's feat. He picked up the pokeball and smiled up to his big brother. Kaiba ruffled his hair and glanced over to where Serenity and the others lay. He wanted to walk over and help her, but decided that now they were reunited, even if the offending parties were asleep, he would distance himself. Yugi Tea and Mai woke the sleeping people and pokemon while Kaiba looked his brother up and down. He had some pretty deep cuts along his leg, but they seemed to have scabbed over well.

"We should probably get out of here." He said as the rest of them woke. "Spearow, find the best way out." The bird took off immediately and started fluttering around the caves, popping in and out of different tunnels.

"What... Happened?" Joey said, barely waking up. He lifted himself and shook his head as Mai smiled at him.

"It's all taken care of. Tea brought it down and Mokuba caught it." Joeys eyes snapped to the little boy.

"That thing could be caught!" He nearly shouted. Mokuba's wide grin answered him and Kaiba's Spearow landed back onto his arm, signaling it had the quickest route.

"Come on, we're getting out of here." Kaiba said, starting towards the cave his bird took off towards. They recalled their pokemon and moved to the exit, emerging atop the mountain. Once a safe flat place was found, they decided to make camp.

"Serenity I'm so happy you're safe." Tristan said, placing himself next to her. She offered him a friendly smile her gaze wandered to Kaiba. He had been looking at her as well, but they both quickly turned away. "You weren't all alone, were you?" He asked worriedly.

"No, Kaiba was... with me." She said slowly, realizing her fault too late.

"What? Kaiba? You were alone with Kaiba?" Joey jumped up. She looked up at the young CEO and he was pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

"Calm down Joey, I'm fine. We took care of each other. He was really nice." She said trying to stop his freak out. She held on to his arm to keep him from flailing and tried to get him to face her.

"I swear to God, if you touched her-"

"Joey, that's enough! Stop focusing on who you like and who you don't for a second. We need to get home before we get killed. I'm still alive, you're still alive, we all are. Cant we just try to find a way to get home and deal with that later?" She begged. Joey remained glaring at Kaiba, but nodded. Mai moved in front of him, pulling him away and distracting him while tossing Serenity a wink. After he was out of earshot, Serenity moved to Kaiba. "I am so sorry. I wasn't thinking-"

"No, you weren't. Why don't you just stick with the rest of your little group. I've got Mokuba now. I don't need anything else." He couldn't watch as Serenity's expression turned hurt and confused. He marched over to Mokuba and left her there alone. Once he turned back He saw Tea approach her and glare at him.

"I told you. You cant trust him." He heard her say and felt his stomach grow hard. He didn't want to hurt her like that, which was weird for him. He usually didn't care either way. Actually, he was only distancing himself from her to avoid hurting her relationship with her brother, someone he hated. Why was he being so considerate? If he wanted someone, he just took them. So why now was he pulling away? He glanced her over and watched as she started walking away. She turned and looked at him sadly once more and he felt awful.

They looked over their broken and beaten pokemon while resting themselves atop the mountain. The water dragon was in no shape to be ferrying anyone any time soon and the large shelled one wasn't near big enough for the amount of people it would need to carry. He knew Mai had a Starmie, and that was large enough for two, but the weak little seahorse Tea had wasn't strong enough for anyone. He sighed, sure he would have to cover all of them.

Joey and Tristan left to get firewood while Tea Mai and Serenity worked on gathering food. The group was divided again, but at least Kaiba and Mokuba were together, even if Yugi was there too. He glanced at the forest area where Serenity had left to and sighed.

"So, Serenity," Tea said while moving to avoid a large root. "Are you feeling better?" Serenity hadn't quite heard what she said. She was in her own little world, but it wasn't difficult to tell where Tea's mind was at with her.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine." She answered quickly. Mai shot them looks and Tea looked up at her.

"She tried to be friends with Kaiba and then he did... that." She said to the blonde, reminding Serenity why she preferred to trust Kaiba over Tea.

"He was probably just over excited. He gets like that when he's excited. You know, the 'I did something I liked, leave me alone' attitude." Mai said shrugging. "He doesn't really understand social interaction very well... his best friend being his laptop." She laughed.

"Are... you defending him?" Tea asked. She was more shocked than anything. She didn't know Mai very well but what she did know was Mai didn't like very many people. She wasn't a bad person, but she wasn't the sort to warm up easily, and Kaiba wasn't easy to warm up to.

"Well, we've spent a lot of time together. My father," Mai paused to gag, " Is one of his biggest investors and we go to all the Kaiba corp galas and Kaiba attends a few of our holiday parties too. I've been making excuses for him to leave and keeping him from strangling people for years now. If anyone knows him, I do. He's really not a bad guy, just an ass sometimes. An unobservant ass." She said with a wink.

"So, you trust him?" Serenity asked quietly. Mai looked at her weirdly.

"Not as far as I can throw him, sweetie. The man doesn't think. He's unobservant and with that comes inconsiderate. It's not that he is mean and cruel, it's that he doesn't think about anyone else. He see's what benefits him and takes that course. So no. I don't trust him. Maybe some day he'll grow up, but as far as I can tell, don't put your eggs in that basket." Serenity felt empty inside. If Mai really knew Kaiba that well...Then it was a game. Maybe a survival attempt. He was kind to her when he needed her and now he didn't.

Her mind reeled and her heart hurt. She was so used to this feeling. Trusting someone and being hurt. Over and over again, she thought she's be smarter about the people she let into her life. She actually caught her self smiling and thinking 'when will I ever grow up?' She had to learn when to just give up on someone. She wouldn't be cruel, but she wasn't going to try to be something that the other person didn't want. Even if it was just as a friend.

The girls made it back to the camp before the boys and they all wondered what was taking so long. Serenity started off towards the direction they came from when a voice stopped her.

"Going alone is just going to kill you. Bring someone else, dammit." Kaiba said pushing a stick into the ground and stirring up the dust atop the stone ground. Serenity sighed, knowing what he said was true and Tea moved to accompany her. Mai, on the other hand decided to stay, glancing between Kaiba and Serenity. She smiled as she moved next to him.

"Let's take a walk." She said down to him. He glanced up with a raised eyebrow, but she gave him a look that said she wanted to talk business. He rose and followed her into a secluded place where she spun and eyes him with amusement.

"Well?" He asked, kind of annoyed, but he knew how she worked. She had something on him and it was important to get it out of her as soon as possible so he could devise a way of neutralizing it.

"What are you in a rush for? Anyways... isn't it against your personal beliefs to fall for the enemies assets?" She asked. Kaiba was completely confused. The woman had a way with words that eluded even him. "Like... his sister?" Kaiba's eyes immediately widened and he took a step back. How did she know? He was being mean and distant. How could she have possible... wait... Tea... Tea saw him being kind to her... but hadn't she thought it was an act? Then... "Oh please. 'Going alone is just going to kill you, bring someone else'" She said mockingly. "That might work on people who aren't used to you, but not me. You had nothing to benefit from saying that. You've been avoiding eye contact, but shooting looks when she wasn't aware, you've been cleaning up her messes, and looking like a hurt puppy every time her eyes water. You're so easy to read." He moved towards her quickly and covered her mouth, looking back at where their camp was.

"Shut up. You cant tell anyone." His eyes returned to her and she had a full look of amused shock on her face as she pulled his hand from it.

"Oh really? Why is that?" She was really getting to him now.

"Be... Because." He paused for a moment, sighing. "Because it couldn't happen and I know that. Even being friends-"

"Oh! You want to be more than friends?" She said surprised. How could he be that careless? He mentally kicked himself for the slip and growled.

"Listen! If Wheeler finds out how I feel what do you think it'll do? He'll confront her, and she'll admit it. Then they'll fight and argue and I don't want to be the cause of that." He snapped angrily.

"So... you are considerate..." She pondered out loud and he wondered if she understood what he had just said. "What does she mean to you?" It was hopeless. It didn't matter what he said, she would do what she wanted, and he knew Mai was a sucker for conflict. "Come on, cause if I don't get the answer, you know I'm going to turn to other forms of amusement."

"She... She's special. She trusts me." The color in Mai's face faded. Her previous conversation with Serenity rang into her mind and she felt horrible. "Don't tell... What do you want? A new car? Clothes? Makeup?" He tried. He was really desperate. She felt a pang of guilt as she looked at him.

"No, none of that." She said, and he paled as she had before. "Listen, this information is going to get out. I'm not going to have to tell. You're slipping. And don't think you can hide behind making fun of her and picking on her, because if I have to rub a crying Serenity's back one more time because of you, I'm going to tell her." She watched his gaze lower to the ground as she spoke. She was exaggerating, but he didn't have to know that. "Joey's going to find out. It's going to happen. But it'll be easier for him to accept if it comes from you." His eyes shot up to hers in an incredulous look.

"Think about it. You coming to him and admitting feelings for his sister. What could you possibly think? It cant be a joke or a prank, because there's no punch line. If you wanted to hurt him like that, you'd take his little sister and turn her against him or something. You gain nothing by telling him this, other than a better chance at him accepting you. Coming to him and showing vulnerability will only disarm him. He may not accept you right away, I mean, you've kind of treated him like shit, but if you do as he asks, I'm sure he'll see the truth.

"Oh! And don't tell Serenity you're doing this. If she begs him it'll seem like you've already... 'corrupted' her. If he wants to tell her, it's his choice. To win this, you'll have to give up your control over the situation." Kaiba sunk into himself. He hated the idea. It was an awful one. Give up his control... He needed control. He couldn't trust anyone else with it. No, he couldn't. "Or... you can just give up on ever seeing her again. Because when it does come out and it's not you saying it, he'll ban her from the light of day if he has to to keep you away." She finished with her warning. It was true. He really hated him that much. Serenity... he had lived without her before. Surely he could do it again, right?

"Then... I'll just have to deal with not seeing her." He decided. Mai scowled at him.

"You selfish brat." He glared up at her, waiting for her to elaborate her outburst. "If you being in control and being seen as invulnerable is more important than that girl... that special girl who trusted you, then you don't deserve her." She stormed back to the group, leaving him frozen in place. Was she worth it? He thought back to his time with her on the island, then in the cave. She had cared for him and trusted him, not asking anything in return. Never demanding and only giving. His opposite. Warm and sweet, with compassion and love. Where had his compassion gone? His love? Was it really dead?

After rejoining the group at the camp, he noticed Serenity had returned, her brother and friends in tow. Joey was bragging about being attacked by some fire pokemon and capturing it, but Kaiba wasn't really paying attention. Serenity was looking up at her brother, smiling and congratulating him. As Mai sat next to her Kaiba's blood ran cold, but she said nothing. Brief eye contact between him and the blond sent his gaze towards the ground and he found interest in the little rocks and plants that made up the stony floor. He was still unsure of the actions he wanted to take. This was proving to be a challenge inside of another challenge.

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**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love ya!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

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The night was cooler than the others trapped on the islands. Mokuba cuddled against his big brother all night and everyone else managed to get body heat partners. When Tristan tried to slip next to Serenity, Kaiba had to keep from shouting, but luckily enough Joey demanded that he leave his little sister alone. Serenity spent the night between Tea and Mai while Joey Yugi and Tristan uncomfortably warmed each other.

In the morning Kaiba woke early and decided to take Mokuba and get food while the others still slept. If was nice bonding time between them and Mokuba proved to be great at spotting fruits high in the trees. He used his tiny turtle pokemon to shoot them down and Kaiba caught them before they could break on the ground. When they returned the sun was just rising and everyone was still asleep. He and Mokuba ate some, leaving the majority of it for the others then took a trip down to the beach.

Kaiba released his dragon pokemon and was sure to make sure it was mostly on the sand, preventing it from drifting away or drowning. Mokuba decided to let out the fire bird from the pokeball. It screeched and flew high into the air, but didn't get far.

"Get back here bird brain!" Mokuba shouted. Kaiba smiled at his little brother's guts. The bird landed angrily in front of him and Kaiba readied himself to remove Mokuba from it's line of fire if he needed to. "Alright, I'm your master now, and you're going to listen to me. You're not going to be loud. You're not going to attack me. You're going to be nice and fight for me if I need you, and for doing this, I'll make sure you get fresh air and spreading wings time every day, got it?" The bird glared down at him, but didn't respond. "Fine, I guess I'll just keep you in this thing until you're nicer." He said raising the ball. The bird flapped it's wings uncomfortably and chittered quietly. "Ah, ok. Well, go ahead. Fly around. But be good and don't go too far, ok?" He said happily and the bird took off, circling the island.

It warmed Kaiba how effective his little brother was. Removing a potential threat and gaining an ally, even if it was an unwilling one, in a matter of moments. Kaiba moved to his weak dragon and laid his hand on the thing's head. It had fought so hard and was still a little out of it from the encounter. It needed at least another day before it could even think of ferrying the group.

"Hey, what's that one called?" Mokuba asked, moving to the water dragon.

"I don't know. I found it while stranded." Kaiba said, looking down at his little brother. Mokuba pulled a small red electronic book of some sort from his pocket.

"You mean you didn't get a pokedex?" He asked, flipping it open and pointing it at the dragon. Before Kaiba could respond the thing beeped and began speaking.

"Gyarados, this pokemon has a vicious temperament, so use extreme caution. Its fangs can crush stones and its scales are harder than steel." The small contraption recited out. Kaiba looked at the dragon again.

"Gyarados..." He said, still petting the dragon. It let out a strained noise and moved towards his touch.

After returning to the rest of camp, Mokuba moved around identifying the pokemon everyone had obtained. Kaiba had a Gyarados and Lapras in addition to his Spearow and Charmander. Serenity's little fox was revealed to be a Vulpix, and Yugi's pokemon were a Kadabra, Nidorino, and a Tangala. Mai's pokemon were a catlike Persian, and a moth like pokemon called Venomoth. Joey had his Scyther, the one that had assaulted them in the forest, splitting them, along with a Rhyhorn, and a Sandshrew. Tristan's new arrival was called Dugtrio, and Tea's pokemon were revealed as Horsea, Jigglypuff and Clefairy.

"And mine are Squirtle, and Moltres... it says Moltres is supposed to be a legendary pokemon or something like that." Mokuba said, reading the pokedex in front of him. Kaiba had to admit, he was a bit jealous, but it was outweighed by pride. He glanced around to see the envious looks his brother was getting. Tea was chatting with Mai, not impressed while Serenity was kneeling down next to her pokemon talking sweetly with them.

"You want to go to the beach?" She asked her injured Pidgy. She was wanting to wash it off a bit and help it have a bit of relaxation time where it was not as noisy. Tristan and Joey were getting into an argument over who's pokemon were stronger, and Yugi was chatting with Mokuba to the side. Tea and Mai were still speaking privately, leaving his as the only one who could escort her. He sighed frustratedly. He wanted to distance himself, but couldn't bring himself just to ignore her and possibly let her get injured.

Serenity rose, carrying the bird while the small fire creatures followed. She didn't seem to think the buddy rule applied to her, so he decided to follow in silence, hoping nothing happened to her and that he would just be an invisible shadow. It took only fifteen minutes before they got to the sandy waterfront and she stopped.

"Kaiba." She called, before turning to look at him. He didn't think she knew he was following her, but he was apparently wrong. She offered him a half smile before continuing. "I knew if I left by myself you'd make sure I was safe." He stared at her coolly. So she knew he would follow. She wanted him there. "I need to talk to you. What's wrong?" He sighed lightly. He knew he was being obviously meaner to her, and how could she not have noticed?

"Nothing. We're simply back to normal. Now if that's all you wanted-"

"No, it's something else. You've been cold like before but when I'm in trouble, or even if there's a possibility of it, you come straight for me and protect me, even if it means damaging yourself. Come here." She outstretched an arm towards him, but he hesitated. She smiled at him as if he were a disobedient child and moved to him, taking his arm and leading him out into the open. Sliding up the sleeve of his black turtleneck, she uncovered his injured arm. It was completely scabbed and healed up quite well. After the check up on his forearm was done, she glanced across his shoulder blade where the legendary bird's fires scorched him. The fabric of the cloth was singed and had some holes where the fire burnt through.

"Ugh!" he jerked as her fingers grazed the shoulder and she looked at him sadly.

"Come on, let me see it." She wanted him to lift his shirt, but he tried his best to toss up a glare at her. For some reason, the facial expression he was most used to just didn't want to grace his face. He didn't like glaring at her. He didn't like being cold and mean to her either. "You saved me by getting this, the least I can do is help you out. Please?" Did she have to ask him like that? He didn't like feeling powerless, but she did it to him. He sat on the beach, removing the black shirt and letting her see him. Kneeling behind him, she removed the scraps she had washed and re-washed to utilize them. "Hold on right here, I know I saw some aloe over by the larger trees. I'll be right back." And with that she jogged into the forest, leaving him alone on the beach, pondering her and her seemingly endless kindness.

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><p>"Where the heck could she have gone?" Joey asked, glancing around the campsite.<p>

"I think she said something about the beach." Tea said, only half paying attention. Mai swept over the group, noting Kaiba's absence as well, making her freeze when Joey started in that direction. Tristan and Yugi rose to help look but Mai jumped up, panicking a little.

"Hey, I'll check the beach. Why don't the rest of you snoop around the mountain and forest, ok?" She tried, but Joey glanced at her questioningly.

"Did you forget too? We have a buddy system. You don't leave without a buddy, So, I go with you." He had something playful in his voice and she rolled her eyes. She tried to talk him out of it, but at least he demanded they go together alone. That way Tristan and the others wouldn't see. As they started towards finding her, Mai heard Mokuba ask about his brother, paused, and sighed, relieved that Joey hadn't heard the question. This was going to be difficult.

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><p>"Stop flinching so badly, I'm going to slip." Serenity chided as Kaiba pulled away suddenly. She had found the aloe leaves and ripped them down the middle, taking the oozing insides and rubbing them on the burn. The pressure of her hands made it sting and hurt, but after the goop was on, it felt much better. Almost soothing. While she was gathering the plants, he had steeled himself against her once more, but with her in his face, he couldn't find the same strength. She leaned over him and he caught the slight sweet scent of her. It made his head fog over and clouded his thoughts. He wanted to reach out and pull her closer.<p>

"There, just about done." She said, pulling back and looking it over. She had cleaned it out with some fresh water from a small pool from the forest, then spread on enough aloe to cover the wound, but not enough to make him uncomfortable. Now that she was taking a good look at him she realized how muscular his back was. Her eyes wandered and strained to see his sides and even his chest, curious if he was the same everywhere, but the way he was sitting made it impossible to see. He slung his around around his bent knees, leaning into his long legs and using them to support him. He didn't seem to be getting up anytime soon so she sat next to him and stared out into the waters, copying him.

"What are you thinking about?" He caught himself before replying 'you' and she looked at him expectantly.

"How we're going to get home." He recovered. She nodded, gaze returning to the crashing waves of the shoreline. His traveled to her. So small and sweet, sitting next to him. He could probably crush her with one hand, yet she had this sort of power. She was just so kind... so thoughtful... so close.

He leaned in, no longer thinking, and brought a hand out to pull her eyes back to him. Her eyes were filled with curiosity and a little panic. He had been painfully quiet the entire time, and before that brutally cruel. His touch was soft and she did relax a little, but as he pulled her closer she tensed again. He brought his lips down on hers, moving his hand to the small of her neck. She remained frozen in place for a few moments, but eventually melted into him, kissing him in return.

Her response triggered his next movement. He smoothly transitioned to his knees, pushing her back against the sand beneath her. Before long he was over her, kissing her as he held his place above her. Her fingers slowly ran over his chest, answering the question her mind asked earlier. He was well muscled but not too defined. Lean and strong. They broke for a moment and she could swear his eyes pierced right through her. She could see everything in them and was sure he could see all of her.

"Sere-" He started, but something charged through him, ripping him off of her and sending him tumbling away. His reflexes were too slow and he was easily caught in a guard as Joey sat atop him and slammed a fist down into his jaw.

"You son of a bitch!" Joey yelled as Mai tried desperately to pry him off. He never struck the CEO again, but not for lack of trying. Serenity threw herself across Kaiba's torso, creating a barrier between the boys.

"Joey stop! Please!" She begged, helping Kaiba drag himself out from under the boy. He glared across at Joey once he was back on his feet, but Serenity's hand guided him to her as she inspected where Joey had punched him. He winced as her fingers grazed over the tender skin.

"Ren, What the hell? How could you do this?" Joey cried, now focusing on her.

"Joey-" Serenity started, but Mai interrupted her..

"Serenity, get Kaiba out of here, I cant hold him. He needs to calm down and He's not going to do it with you two around." Mai pleaded. Serenity hesitated for a moment, then pulled Kaiba with her towards the camp. They were quiet the entire way back, and when they finally appeared at camp, they sat quietly until Joey and Mai returned. Mai wore a worried expression, but Joey refused to even look towards the same direction as Serenity and Kaiba. He walked past them to the mountain side of camp, the farthest from them. They could all tell it was going to be a long night.

…

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><p>A few days had passed until the pokemon were back to full health. Mokuba decided to bond with his Squirtle as Kaiba and Serenity rode the Lapras. Mai and Tea surfed along on Mai's Starmie while Joey, Yugi, and Tristan all rode Kaiba's Gyarados. They traveled for a day, then were forced to take a break on a small sandbar while the pokemon rested.<p>

Joey still hadn't talked to Serenity at all, and she was really worrying. Kaiba had tried to calm her, but he knew nothing would. It was the exact thing he knew would happen when Joey did find out. Kaiba knew what he had to do.

The next day they traveled again, finally reaching some main land by the end of the day. A road lead from north, around a bend and off to the west. When they returned the pokemon to the pokeballs Serenity moved towards Joey, determined to break his silence but something stopped her. Kaiba's hand was gentle but firm on her arm as he passed her, approaching her brother and leaving her wondering what he was doing. He moved next to Joey, but the boy refused to even look at him.

"Kaiba if you don't get the hell away from me now, I'm gonna rip your head off." Joey warned.

"Do what you need to." Kaiba responded making everyone, including Joey stare at him in amazement. "But we need to talk." Joey and Kaiba locked eyes for a moment, and finally Joey started off into the distance.

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**Hey guys, don't forget to review, they keep me going. **

**Read, Review, Enjoy~ Love ya**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

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"Wheeler... I'm not tr-" Before he could get another word out, Joeys fist slammed into his face again. Kaiba didn't fall on the first blow this time, but Joey didn't stop. He punched into him again and again, striking him in the gut and face. Kaiba did eventually fall, but did not strike back, or even defend. He had taken harder blows in worse situations.

"Why me?" Joey finally said after he exhausted himself beating the CEO. "I didn't do anything to you. Just cause you don't like me aint a reason to pull this shit." He said between heavy breaths.

"I'm not pulling anything." Kaiba coughed out, sputtering a little blood out of his mouth as he spoke. "I came here to tell you that. Why else would I let you beat me like this? I didn't fight back. I didn't even block even though I could have. I care about her. She's... She's important to me." He said looking away from Joey. Even though he had a strong point, his business and negotiation skills sank to the back of his consciousness as he started to open up. He didn't trust Joey like he trusted Serenity. It made things a hundred times harder, but he felt it needed to be done. He just hoped it would be enough.

"Care about... You're a sociopath. You cant care about her. You don't care about anyone but yourself. Everyone knows it. Ren's done nothing to you. Absolutely nothing. I know I annoy the crap outta you, but she doesn't deserve this. Stay away from her. I swear, if I see you touching her again, I'll rip your freakin head off. Got it?" Kaiba paused. He didn't take kindly to threats. He let Joey abuse him this one time, but he knew he wouldn't let it happen again. Then his mind returned to Serenity. She would choose her brother over him, and he didn't think he could deal with that. It was the logical choice, but he hated it nonetheless. There was only one thing he could do, the thing he should have done from the start.

"Fine. You get it. I give up. But... We both know it's my fault. I planned the whole thing. I tricked her into the entire ordeal. I'm the one to blame."

"Yeah, I get it, You're the freakin mastermind. Pull this again... I dare ya." Joey got up, turned and started back to the others. Kaiba followed shortly after.

Serenity was beside herself with worry when they returned. When Joey finally made it, he locked eyes with her, glaring her down, but eventually looking away and seating himself.. She sucked in a breath of air as Kaiba showed himself. Blood flowed freely from both nostrils and seeped from the right side of his mouth. He walked with a slight limp and his hair on the left side of his head was coated in hardening blood.

She leaped up, rushing to him and moving her hand to guide his face to her, but he gripped her wrist, pausing them both as he glanced at her. His eyes were broken and cold, but he shook his head, moving past her and continued until he was next to Mokuba. His little brother helped clean him off as Serenity stood between Kaiba and Joey. Only about ten feet away from each of them, but feeling like they were miles and miles in different directions. The rest of the group had already made camp and a fire was roaring, warming them as they rested.

"Hey." Mai said, seating herself next to the disheveled redhead.

"What... What did I do? I mean, I know Joey doesn't like Kaiba... and that he's protective of me, but isn't it my life? Can't I make a decision for myself?" Serenity asked, looking up at Mai. "I don't think Kaiba's evil, or bad. I know he isn't. Why cant Joey trust me?"

"I know. He's pretty thick with this stuff. He wont even talk to me because I knew and tried to help you." Serenity looked up at Mai in shock and the tall blonde smirked. "I know Kaiba a bit as well. He's an ass, but he's not a bad person. You're brother's just... stubborn."

"I'm... I'm an adult now... Right? I can determine my own future. I can make my own choices... Why doesn't anyone see that?" Mai looked sadly at the young girl as she sank into herself. She seemed to be talking to herself more than Mai.

"Why don't you tell him that?" Mai said, drawing Serenity's full attention.

"Joey?"

"No, Kaiba." Both Mai and Serenity glanced over to Kaiba, who sat resting his arms on his knees and letting his head hang as he thought quietly. "He's only avoiding you because he wants to protect your feelings. Your relationship with your brother. I told him to say something to Joey first... To be the one who tells him before he finds out another way, but you know Kaiba. He's not one to make himself vulnerable easily. If you want to make your own decisions, you need to make the moves." Serenity stared into fire for a moment, but sighed as she wasn't able to will her body into moving. She glanced over at Kaiba, who had gone to sleep early, then back to Mai.

"I... I want to... But what if he doesn't change his mind?" Serenity asked worriedly.

"He is stubborn..." Mai said, pondering what to do next, but something threw off her train of thought.

"Ren." Joey said, standing over the two. He had finally decided to talk to her. He glanced at Mai while she rose and moved off to the side, giving them their privacy. Unfortunately for Serenity, Joey wasn't the quiet sort. "You understand right? Why I'm pissed? I just cant allow-"

"Allow? You're not my parent Joey." Everyone suddenly turned to them, even Kaiba who was only pretending to be asleep. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I want to lead my own life. I want to make my own way. Why cant any of you accept that?" Joey was taken aback, but she knew he was more stubborn than that.

"Accept that? Ren, You're not an adult yet. You haven't lived and experienced real life yet. What if you dated someone normal for a while? I wouldn't mind th-"

"How about I choose? How about I actually do some living without you over my shoulder controlling me? I'm my own person. I need to learn from my mistakes, not be sheltered from them." She said, standing and meeting her brother face to face.

"Ren... Fine. You can do your own living, but this one time... this last time... I need you to listen to me. Don't do this. Cause I don't think I could forgive you for this." Serenity paused. She wanted her freedom. She wanted some control over her life. Was dropping this subject worth him leaving her alone? Was sticking with it worth losing her brother's respect? She didn't know what to do. She turned to Kaiba, someone she wasn't even sure would fight for her, and locked eyes with him for a moment. He held her stare as the moment passed, then rolled over and assumed the sleeping position once more.

"Joey... fine." As her words passed through his ears, Kaiba felt something turn cold in his gut. She was really giving up on him... but what else could he expect, when he had done the same?

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><p>The night passed, but Serenity stuck by her words and, though she was still civil, barely interacted with the young billionaire. Her gaze wandered back to him from time to time, but he seemed to have completely forgotten her.<p>

In the night sky they had seen lights of civilization a few hours west from them, so when the sun rose, they knew which heading they had. Joey hummed a pleasant tune, but everyone else was quiet, unwilling to weigh in on the tense subject that almost split their party. Joey still wasn't talking to Mai, but Serenity saw her as an invaluable friend.

As they moved, He glanced at Kaiba over and over, noting how many bruises and marks her brother left on him. She hated that they didn't like each other, and now even more so that she couldn't help Kaiba... that he didn't want it. It was painful for her to pretend like he didn't matter to her, but her brother also mattered. She was stuck.

Once inside town, Kaiba brought a lot of attention. The found that they were now in Fuchsia City, and no one here knew of a place without pokemon. It was the same aimless deal as before. They had no real heading and no knowledge of where in the universe they were. They stopped by a small healers home where she gave them some special herbs to help free of charge because of the severity of his wounds. She gave Kaiba a bed, telling him he needed to rest if he wanted the full effect of the herbs.

Most of the group decided to check out the town, taking strolls and exploring while Joey Mai and Serenity stayed back. A few minutes after the group left, Mai rose from the chair at Kaiba's bed's side and moved to Joey.

"Joey... talk to me." She pleaded. He turned away, glancing out the window like she hadn't said a thing. "Joey, this isn't fair. You cant be treating me like this. I care about you."

"Pah. If you cared, you'd have told me what mistakes my sister was making before I had to see this bastard mackin on her." He spit. Serenity glanced down at Kaiba, who she knew was still awake by the fact that his mouth drew tight when Joey referred to him.

"I don't want to fight with you, Joey, but it wasn't my secret to tell. She's old enough to take her own responsibilities. Why am I being held with them?"

"Because, if you were a real friend you would have looked out for her." He finally made eye contact with her, glaring venomously.

"I don't see Kaiba as a threat. I know him. He's not a bad person. You're just to stubborn to realize that." Joey threw his hands in the air as he let out an exasperated sigh, then turned and walked out the door, not willing to deal with her anymore. Mai, who was just as stubborn as him, followed and Serenity heard their voices fade as they moved away. She looked down at Kaiba again and his eyes were still closed, but he was more relaxed now. She slowly slid her hand under his and his twitched away, but not enough.

"Kaiba..." She said softly, looking at him and hoping he looked worse than he felt. The boy laid there unmoving. "I'm sorry. I wish there was a way to show him who you really are. I wish... I wish I was strong enough to fight for you." Kaiba felt himself soften to her again and had to strengthen his resolve. She had been able to break down his guard before and he couldn't let it happen again. "I care about you... I don't want you hurt again... not because of me... It isn't fair. It should have been me to take tha-" Her words set off an instinct inside him that he had developed while under his father's control.

He snapped up, ignoring the pain it caused his body and quickly cupped her chin. The shock of his lightening fast movement made her speechless as he locked eyes with her.

"Don't you ever say anything like that again." He warned, the sternness in his voice commanding her to nod. "No one deserves to be beaten for any reason." He brushed his fingers more gently down her cheek. "Especially not you." Serenity leaned over him and planted a small sweet kiss across his lips. "You probably shouldn't do that. What If your brother sees?" He said breaking away and looking to the side.

"I... I don't feel right hiding how I feel. All my life I've hidden what I feel. I don't want to do it anymore. I... I like you." She blushed and looked down, embarrassed at her exclamation. She was beautiful. He moved closer and kissed her again. When they parted he could see her blush flare across her cheeks and a smile crossing her lips.

"Why are you so different?" He asked as she took his breath away. She had gotten through his defenses once again. She looked at him innocently and waited for him to elaborate. He sighed, taking his brow into his hand and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Girls are all the same." She frowned at him.

"No they'r-" He continued through her interruption, already knowing what she was going to say.

"Yes, they are. They all want the same thing, Security. And they see the best form of security is money. Thus they seek me. But you... you don't seem to want..." He trailed off, but she understood, smiling down at him as she sat on the bed next to him.

"I want security. I just understand that, while money is a great form of security, love is an even better one." Her words drew his eyes to her and he sat stunned, watching her in shock. She was still smiling, but now she reached over and grasped his hand, squeezing him warmly. Something welled in his gut. Love? Did he love her? He knew he felt something, but full on love? It was too soon to tell.

"I don't know if I love you." He said, hanging his head and averting his gaze, but her next noise made him snap back to her. She was laughing. It was light, and not mocking or mean, but she was actually laughing at what he said.

"You don't have to love me... especially not now. It's been days. But I know I care about you, and that's always the first step." She confounded him. Through to the very core, he was confused by this girl.

"Why are you so different..?" Her face turned serious and she looked away.

"Because my brother raised me to be... Do you hate him?" He sighed again. She knew how to get to him. She asked all the questions where answering honestly would leave him vulnerable, yet he couldn't lie to her. He trusted her not to hurt him.

"Sometimes... " He paused as she looked away sadly, but if he was going to be honest, he couldn't half ass it "but sometimes it's hard to when I see the person he turned you into." He said guiding her back to him. She smiled and leaned in trying to kiss him again, but he pulled away. "We really should stop. They're bound to return any minute now." He said, immediately regretting it. Serenity did pull back, understanding. She pondered for a moment before finally speaking again.

"What do I do?"

"You wanted to take control of your life. Now's the time. You have to choose. You have to make your own decision." He said, looking at her calmly. She thought to herself for a moment, but smiled, throwing him off again.

"I think... you just did." He furrowed his brow, waiting for her to elaborate. She was utterly confusing. He had never known anyone like her. " If choose to be... good... to side with my brother and never see you again, I'd lose all freedom. I don't care what bet or agreement he made with me, he would never let me live. You wouldn't do that to me. You know I want that control. Even if I ask you... you'll have me make my own choice, and by doing so... you've made my decision obvious. I'm... I'm going to try to talk to my brother one more time. Thank you Kaiba."

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**I look forward to reading your reviews. **

**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love ya!**

**** EDIT ** I'm giving up on this story. It gets very few views and reviews and I'm utterly demotivated to continue. I usually burn out around now in these stories, but the input and feedback inspire me to continue. I know crossovers are not usually read or sought, but I'm just not feeling it anymore. oh well.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

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"You see what I mean?" Mai whispered to Joey as he quietly peeked into the room where he thought Kaiba was sleeping. He watched as Kaiba jutted up from his faked sleeping position and faced Serenity towards him. Joey's fists balled, but Mai kept him where he was.

"Don't you ever say anything like that again." Joey heard him say as he began to chide Serenity but his tone calmed and his grip loosened when Serenity leaned down to kiss him. Joey's heart stopped. Mai kept her grip on him, fearing what he would do to the already injured boy, but he didn't move. He couldn't. He could hear Kaiba warning her not to do that again and saying something about him, but the words were mixed in his head with confusion and rage.

Serenity began to speak but the fog of emotions swirling in his head clouded her words. He didn't know exactly what was said, but somehow the sentiment of what she was trying to portray got through. She was falling for him. He leaned in, this time kissing her and Joey's fingers turned white from the force of his grip. Hadn't he just warned her not to do that? Hadn't Joey warned him what would happen if he did?

"Why are you so different?" He heard Kaiba ask. There was a lot of back and forth between the two for some time.

'He's good...' Joey thought to himself as he watched Kaiba lie to his little sisters face. Hell, if Joey didn't know any better, he would have believed him too. But he did know better.

"You've made my decision obvious. I'm... I'm going to try to talk to my brother one more time. Thank you Kaiba."

"What's the point?" Joey said from the doorway, startling her to the point of leaping off the bed. "I heard everything. Kaiba you think you're so smooth with words? Some big feat, trickin my sister into believing you. She trusts everyone. She's just that kind of person. Taking advantage of that is lower than even I thought you'd go." Kaiba sat back, closing his eyes and trying to make the headache go down.

"You already know everything I have to say, there's no need for me to say it again." Joey glared at him as he spoke, then turned to Serenity.

"I thought you said you'd stop this. You said you would but here you are. You cant keep your damned lips off him. It's disgusting."

"That's enough!" Mai said still from the doorway. "You're going to let your pitiful little spat get between you and everyone who cares about you. Why cant you just drop it? Kaiba looks like he's willing to." Joey gave an exasperated shout and left, sick of putting up with it all. The three left inside looked amongst themselves, wondering what to do next.

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The group woke with a start the next morning as cries echoed out from the street. Kaiba hadn't quite healed up the entire way, but decided to be part of the action. He tossed on his turtleneck that he had recovered from the beach before leaving the islands, along with his sliver coat and started out into the streets.

"What are you doing? Are you insane?" Serenity called from down the hall. "Something's going on and you are in no condition to be up." She said sternly. He raised an eyebrow down at her and smirked.

"Who would I be if I didn't want to be a part of this?" He said as he turned and continued down the hall. Once out in the street, they still couldn't figure out the problem. It looked like the majority of the town had headed up to the safari zone to protect the endangered pokemon within.

"What's happening?" They heard Yugi ask someone who looked in charge.

"The ice bird is attacking again. This is the third time already. I don't know what's causing this..." The man said, removing a pokeball from his pocket and readying it "But I'm going to end it."

"Koga! The pokemon inside the Safari zone are overly aggressive, they're not letting us move them into the safe houses." A girl said, rushing to the man's side. He whipped his head around in shock and thought to himself.

"Get Aya to protect the southern beaches, It always comes from there. I'll deal with the Safari zone." He said, starting towards the pokemon haven.

"But... you're the gym leader, you're more powerfu-"

"Aya shouldn't be underestimated. She can take care of it." He called back, not breaking his stride. A sudden screech ripped the group from the now retreating Gym leader to the skies of the south. "Damn, it's too late!" Thy heard the man, Koga, yell. "Go, Venemoth!" A large moth flew from behind them and moved to meet the screeching noises. Everyone at that point drew out their own pokemon and readied themselves.

Through the clouds and shimmering blue winged pokemon tore across the sky and swooped low, diving at any people if could and releasing a shot of some freezing ray that crystallized anything it touched in ice. Kaiba pulled Mokuba behind him and instructed his Spearow to get it's attention. The little bird jutted out, drawing the ice bird down to them. It was almost there when the little Spearow's wing was struck by the ray. Kaiba sped out to catch the plummeting pokemon.

"Pidgy, can you do what Spearow was trying to do? Serenity asked and the little thing cooed, leaping out of her arms and fearlessly rising to the larger pokemon. Kaiba extracted himself from the fray as the little one grabbed the ice birds attention.

"Jigglypuff, sing!" Tea cried, but Yugi grabbed her.

"No, don't! If it falls asleep it could crash down onto someone or even into the safari zone and hurt the pokemon inside!" He called, pointing at the entrance to the reserves. Mai instructed her Starmie to hold until the right moment to strike, leaving Kaiba's plan up to him.

"We need to get it down here and keep it distracted, and we need it to stop shooting those icebeams!" Kaiba shouted, trying to get some teamwork.

"Kadabra! Disable it's move!" Yugi commanded and his pokemon began to chant and glow. Before anymore damage could be done, the bird's ray disappeared and it squawked angrily. Mokuba reached down to secure one of his pokeballs and readied himself, but Kaiba put out an arm.

"No, it's too dangerous. Stay back." Kaiba said. Serenity's Pidgy was suddenly knocked out of the air with one sweep of it's wing and she ran to get it, gaining the birds attention. "Get out of there!" Kaiba screamed, panicking as the bird swooped down on her. A sudden burst of flame made the bird veer off, missing Serenity as she returned. Kaiba looked back and Saw that Mokuba drew out his fire bird. The thing hadn't listened to him very well in the past but now it looked more than eager to fight.

"Get him Moltres!" Mokuba commanded and the fire bird gave out a screech of it's own and chased down the ice one. Unable to defend itself with the ice beam, the bird fled, drawing the fire one into a chase. The bird retreated southward over the ocean and the group ran to catch up with it.

"Wait!" Koga yelled, causing the group to pause. " That bird isn't evil. It's always lived peacefully in it's island to the south. Something's upsetting the pokemon. I think it's something deep underground. Whatever it is... It needs to be stopped." Kaiba nodded, calling out his Gyarados and Lapras. He hopped aboard the shelled pokemon and helped Mokuba and Serenity on. Mai jumped onto her Starmie and the others boarded the Gyarados. "One more thing! Be careful, the waters are treacherous out there. It's easy to get knocked off." the man warned before waving and bidding them good luck.

They rode out, following the flames of Mokuba's Moltres like a beacon as the clouds around them grew thicker. It looked like a storm was forming out of pure nothing and ominously hanging over them. Suddenly the water picked up, the swells of the waves reaching twenty feet easily as the rain started.

"This doesn't feel right!" Tea cried, gripping the Gyarados as she was thrashed about by the waters below her.

"It's not natural, do you think it's the bird?" Yugi asked, screaming over the sounds of the pouring rain and waves crashing.

"Who cares, we have to go through it anyways. We'll figure it out after we deal with it!" Kaiba shouted pulling ahead. The winds tossed and turned and there were a few times Kaiba thought he was going in, but his Lapras veered off and caught him at the last moment, saving him and protecting him. Slowly, through the thick fog and rain, they could make out a large island, frozen through and through.

"I'm definitely not dressed for this." Serenity muttered to herself, shivering from the icy rain. As the climbed onto the surface of the rocky island, they recalled their pokemon and pulled out the Charmanders, Vulpix and Joey's new Magmar that he had caught on the island where they fought the Moltres. The flames coming off the pokemon warmed them as they entered a large ominous crevasse in the side of the frozen foot of the mountainous isle.

Once inside, it was actually much warmer. It didn't seem right. About twenty feet in the path split off in two different directions. The left path seemed to go deeper in while the right looked like it split numerous more times. Kaiba glanced back at the group, checking for any input before he made a decision.

"Right hand rule?" Serenity offered and he nodded, following the right path no matter how many times it split. Three splits in, the rooms were becoming unnaturally warm and they could see puddles where the ice melted. Kaiba started first, noticing a sort of light towards the back of the room. Mokuba stayed by his side and Serenity was right behind him, followed by Mai and Tristan, then Joey Yugi and Tea.

Once Kaiba was half the way across a loud crack made him freeze in place and slowly turn around. He could see the center of the room, not ten feet behind him, had dipped a few inches and cracks formed along the entire floor. He shoved Mokuba towards a wall, grabbed for Serenity and dove to the back of the room. Another series of loud cracks sounded and they all looked up in time to watch as Tristan, Tea, Joey and Mai tumbled down into the unknown below.

"Tea!" Yugi cried, dropping to the edge of the new pit and trying desperately to see down there.

"Get back away from the ledge! You'll fall in too!" Kaiba yelled at him, startling the short boy back. "Walk along the edge of the room. Where the floor meets the wall is the sturdiest landing." He instructed and Yugi followed, moving slowly and making sure his footing was steady. When they regrouped, they all moved to the back of the room where Kaiba was surprised to find the ice had melted away revealing a metal flooring underneath. He moved around as the room twisted into a hallway and paused to find a metal door at the end of it. He walked back into the room where Yugi was trying to get something out of the pit.

"I hear them, guys are you ok?" He yelled, unable to look over the edge, but still trying.

"Yeah. I think I hurt my leg, but other than that we're alright. Looks like there's a lot of passages down here. We're gonna try to find our way back up. Meet you at the entrance." Joey's voice called.

"Be careful." Serenity called, but there was no answer.

"You meet them at the entrance, I want to check something." Kaiba said, facing each of the three in front of him before turning back to the door.

"Wait, I don't think that's a good idea." Serenity said, halting him.

"She's right, we shouldn't separate any more than we have already." Yugi added.

"If you want to come with me I don't care, I just want to find out why there's a clearly man made room inside an otherwise uninhabited mountain." Kaiba said, continuing. Mokuba rushed to catch up while Serenity and Yugi glanced at each other before moving to explore the room with him.

Kaiba made it to the door when he saw there was no handle. He glared at the thing and turned to look back at the rest of them, who were still a few feet behind. Before he could turn back to the door, it banged loudly twice and flew backwards, crashing into Kaiba and sending him brutally to the floor. His already injured back hit a patch of uneven ice making him cry out as the wounds began to bleed again.

'Are you the ones they sent to stop me?' A voice called out. The three rushed to him to get the heavy door off, but froze as soon as the voice had started.

"What... what was that?" Serenity asked, beginning to look around.

"It... I heard it too... but not with my ears... it was in my mind." Yugi said, as everyone thought the same thing.

'Fools. I am in your mind. You pathetic humans have underestimated me for the last time.' From the now open doorway, a pokemon slightly larger than a human stepped into view. It had pale purple skin and a darker purple underbelly. It stood like a person, but had a long purple tail and some sort of tube coming out the back of it's head and into it's shoulders. The thing rose into the air, hovering a few inches above the ground and slowly moved towards them.

"Underestimated? We don't even know what you are! We came here to stop whatever's upsetting the pokemon!" Serenity tried and the creature froze.

'Upsetting the pokemon? I'll tell you what's upsetting the pokemon. Humans. Controlling them, abusing them, destroying them. It is all your doing.' the creature thought into them.

"What are you talking about? Our pokemon are our friends!" Yugi said, trying to help Kaiba up.

'You capture and fight your friends? You 'train' them to do your bidding so that you may obtain what you want, using them to your own means. This is not friendship.'

"They protect us. They help us." Mokuba said, holding one of the pokeballs to him.

'Either you expect me to believe your idiotic lies, or you actually believe them yourself. Pathetic. When I am done, there will be no more of you left to enslave the pokemon of this world.' Suddenly it rose, jutting up through the cave and breaking a path all the way to the surface.

"We... We need to get out of here."

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**Just wondering if anyone is still paying attention to this story. I found this chapter completely written and I guess I just never posted it... I'm not sure if I'm ever going to really continue it. I might touch it again in a few months. Is it really worth saving? There's barely any feedback, and I'm afraid I've just lost hope for it. Still, I'd like some input as to what I should do with it. **

**Oh well...**

**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love Ya!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

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"What the hell was that?" Kaiba demanded as they helped him back to the entrance of the cavern. He shivered, the cold blood seeping from his wounds beginning to freeze against his skin.

"Hey? What happened? We heard a crash!" Tea asked, popping up from a path that twisted off downward. She was followed by Mai, Joey and Tristan and they all seemed eager to know. Kaiba turned back to them, ready to answer but the color had already left him and he fell to his knees.

"Kaiba!" Serenity called while she and Mokuba rushed to his sides. They caught him before he landed on the icy ground and helped him back up, but he tugged himself away and braced against a wall.

"What the hell happened?" Tristan called looking the bloody man over.

"There was a pokemon. It... it spoke to us. It wants to kill humans. And it's powerful." Yugi said, going over it all in his head again. "It threw a metal door at him." Yugi now turned to Kaiba who was struggling to remain composed while holding himself up.

"It tore open his old cuts." Serenity said, making eye contact with the man, trying to get him to let her help. He pulled away again and she sighed frustratedly and grabbed for his arm.

"Stop." He said quietly, pulling away again and causing himself to slip a little.

"Seto!' She scolded, steadying him. He knew he was in trouble if she was using his first name. He glanced sideways at everyone else there, but her hand brought his face back to hers not so sweetly. "I don't care who else is around to see." She said angrily, knowing exactly what was going through his head. "Stop trying to act all tough." His hand came up and covered hers, gently removing it, but not entirely.

"I may trust you, but they-"

"It wont matter in the end if this kills you. Just let me help so you can act tough tomorrow." She said carefully.

"... I'm heavy." He said finally giving in. She smiled up at him and moved under his arm.

"I'll manage. Now we need to get you out of here." Serenity helped pull him back to his Lapras and they started away from the frozen island. They could see the clouds had cleared and there didn't seem to be anymore raucous caused by the ice bird. As they reached shore, there was cheering and calling for them. Serenity glanced down and stopped. Kaiba had lost consciousness at some point along their trip. She jumped off of the Lapras and into the water, pulling him down when she was stable and working to drag him to shore with Mokuba's aid.

"Help! I need help!" Mokuba called as Serenity tried desperately to hoist him onto her back.

"He's in rough shape! Get him to the hospital." Koga shouted, lifting the man off of her and calling a few more people over. Serenity and the others followed worriedly until there was nothing left to do but wait. The doctors worked quickly, but the town was small and the medicine was slow.

"How you handling this kiddo?" Mai asked, leaning against the chair Serenity waited in.

"I'll be better when he is." She said quietly. She knew her brother was watching her. She didn't care anymore. There were more important things than stupid foolish rivalries. Mokuba curled onto her lap, hugging her closer. He loved the idea of her and his brother together. He loved knowing she actually cared about him and wasn't just after his material possessions.

"I know sweetie. Love... It's not something you can just put the breaks on." Serenity glanced up and noticed Mai was looking directly at Joey. "It's not something that some petty argument can come between. No. It's something that forgives and comforts. Real love that is." She finally looked down at the girl and Serenity smiled up at her. She knew that wasn't just to convince Joey to back off, but was a confession for Mai's own feelings for him. She just hoped he understood that.

"Um, He's awake now. We gave him a blood transfusion and put him on some painkillers. He has to stay in bed for a few days, but he should heal up well. There wasn't any permanent damage." One woman said as she left the room.

"Can we see him?" Mokuba asked, now jumping up.

"Yes, he should be able to take visitors." Mokuba glanced up happily at Serenity and moved into the room. She waited a few moments, filing in after Tea and Tristan had entered. Kaiba sat staring off into the thin blankets over him. He didn't look up as everyone entered. It wasn't until Mokuba called out to him that he even opened his eyes. He looked... sad. Empty. Broken. Still he forced a half smile down to his little brother.

Serenity's weight on the bed by his legs drew his eyes to her and she smiled taking his hand. She rose hers, cupping his cheek softly and caressing him.

"I'm glad you're alright." She said quietly. "Does it hurt?"

"Consistently." He responded with an even dead tone. She didn't like it. She gave him a sympathetic look and scooted closer.

"Let me see." She came up, glancing over his shoulder and peering down at where the most serious wound was. A breath of air hissed into her as she pulled back. It looked raw and agitated.

"Serenity..." his voice was low and she could tell he was having difficulties forcing it out. "Thank you." The entire group stopped and stared. He never really thanked anyone, except maybe Yugi once. Joey's eyes narrowed. This was really beginning to bother him. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I was too stubborn." He finished looking utterly deflated. It wasn't like him to be so open in front of so many people.

"Seto." She said as she smiled at him. She squeezed his hand and caressed his fingers as she held on to him. "Do... Do you want me to leave you alone?" His eyes were on her again. He knew she was trying to give him privacy... but if she trusted them...

"No."

"What about us. Should we let you get some rest?" Yugi asked now. Kaiba almost expected it to come from him or Mai. He always found them the most agreeable.

"I don't care." He said, not entirely honestly. He received another squeeze and looked up at Serenity. She smiled at him and he got the idea that she knew what he was doing. He tugged her hand, pulling her over him and kissed her gently on the lips.

Joey sneered and looked away, aiming to leave, but Mai stood in the doorway, arms folded across her chest as she watched him. He simply glared and turned back.

"Seto, you're a sweetheart." Serenity giggled out.

"That's a first." Kaiba said, just as everyone else was thinking the same thing. She giggled again and he shifted, laying himself down. He grimaced as his sore back came in contact with the stiff mattress below him but closed his eyes and was determined to rest up.

Serenity never left his side. He fell asleep for a few hours, woke, shifted and fell back over and over and she was there every time. Sometimes she would help him turn, others she would watch him wearily and sometimes she would just be asleep across his legs, hugging him. She was a comfort he didn't think he could afford to lose.

"Serenity." he called, and she stretched a bit and looked up to him. "Get me your brother." She paused, staring at him for a moment before wordlessly moving out of the room. She looked worried, but he knew he had to try something. It seemed like forever before Joey came into the room and he didn't seem all too happy about it either.

"Seriously Kaiba, you're really testin my nerves. If this is gonna be a recurring thing, at least fucking make some sort of schedule damnit." Joey growled as Serenity moved in behind him.

"Serenity, can I have a moment?" Kaiba asked, glancing past the blonde. She cautiously stepped out and shut the door and Kaiba turned his gaze on her brother. "How does Wednesdays sound?" Joey looked at him incredulously.

"You really think you can convince me that you're not out to hurt her?"

"I'm not."

"You said it yourself." Kaiba sighed and glanced downward.

"I... I lied. I was giving up on her. I was going to pretend I didn't care about her so you two wouldn't fight anymore. I did it because I care about her." Joey just glared at him. "Your sister means a lot to me and you can understand, this isn't something I would say so casually. I'm damned good at a lot of things, but this... this isn't a strong point I have. I don't like sharing my feelings and making myself vulnerable. But you're important to her, and I just... I just want her to be happy. She's not going to be truly happy unless you can accept me." he just wanted this conflict over already. The words came out easier than he thought they would, but that might have been due to him just wanting this all over with.

"Never gonna happen."

"That's why I tried to back off. But she's... stubborn. More stubborn than me even." Kaiba let out a small chuckle thinking about the girl. "What do you want? I can give you anything. I'm not asking for friendship. I'm not saying I want to spend time with you. I just... I just want you to stop fighting. I'll do anything." Joey looked over the boy. He had no idea what game this was this time, but it almost seemed... legitimate. But could Kaiba be trusted? He only ever thought about himself before. How could he have changed so quickly? He had a plan. He had to have a plan. Joey just couldn't see it yet... right?

"I'll think of something." Joey said, still not buying it. Kaiba only nodded.

"Then in the meantime... can you at least talk to her?"

"You're in no position to be requesting anything." Joey warned. He had given his answer, he didn't want anything else from the boy. He started towards the door but paused. Maybe he did want something from him. "Kaiba, you said anything, right?" He turned back to Kaiba who was now staring at Joey a little stunned. He expected a little more time and thought to go into the request Joey would make. There was a knock at the door, but the boys ignored it as Joey turned and pulled his deck box out of his pocket.

Kaiba had insisted that they use deck boxes if they were no longer wearing the duel disks in case someone should accidentally drop their deck off his blimp to prevent the decks from being ruined by the waters below, like what happened to Exodia. The boxes themselves were water sealed and floated for easy retrieval. He had no clue how useful they would truly be. Joey scanned through his cards as the door behind him opened.

"I want your blue eyes. All of them." Serenity stopped, barely inside the room as Kaiba froze.

"What's going on here?" She asked, glancing between the two. Kaiba sunk into himself. He cared about her, that much was true, but was it worth his prized possessions? He thought back to her taking care of him. Trusting him. Saving him and there was only one thing he could do. He fished his own deck box out of his jacket and popped it open. "Wait... you're not really going to... Seto, what... Joey?" He didn't look at her. Neither of them did.

Kaiba glanced across the three cards he treasured above everything else and sighed. He passed them over to Joey and Serenity just stared in shock. Joey placed them in with his deck, fanning through the entire thing a few times and almost put it away, but he stopped again. He pulled out three particular cards and held them up in front of him for Kaiba to see, waited a moment then brought his other hand up ready to tear them down the center.

"Joey, what are you doing! You cant do that!"

"I'm just showing him how it feels. This is what he did to Yugi's grandpa after all." Joeys voice was dead and cold and Serenity shook as she watched exactly what her brother was capable of. Kaiba's whole body tensed as he looked at the back of his three favorite cards in the hands of the person who hated him the most.

"That's not fair Joey!" Yugi cried from behind, but Joey wasn't hearing him.

"You were so mad and hurt when he did it, what makes you doing it any better?" Serenity questioned, trying to find a way out of this. Joey just looked Kaiba dead in the eye and ripped the things in half.

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**First chapter since my hiatus. What do you think? I think I've changed writing styles and focus a little. Is it bad? Good? Man I wish I got some reviews on this story. **

**Anywho, Read, Review, Enjoy~Love Ya!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

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Kaiba's hands curled in as the sound of torn paper filled the room and he closed his eyes. Had he made the right decision? He looked over at Serenity. She was so shocked and upset staring at her brother. He reached out, grabbing her hand and pulling her attention down to him.

"Why?" She asked him, moving closer. "Why would you give him them?" He smiled and she looked at him confusedly. His hand reached up and grazed her cheek and she could do little but look on.

"I got something much better." He said and she almost jumped back.

"M-me? For... why do you think I would want this to happen to you?"

"You wouldn't, but it's alright." Joey's loud sigh grabbed their eyes and tore them back to him.

"Fine Kaiba. I don't know anything anymore. What happened to you, or what you're doing, but... you've convinced me... for now." Joey looked down at his deck, counting off the two first cards and threw them down onto his bed. "I'm keeping this one though. At least a little longer." He held up, to everyone's astonishment, one of the blue eyes white dragons. Kaiba looked down at the two cards thrown at him and gasped. They were the other two mighty cards that he loved so much. He looked up in time to watch the third disappear into Joey's deck box as the boy closed it.

"But you..." Serenity couldn't even find her voice past the first two words and settled on opening and closing her mouth soundlessly.

"I tore up two Garoozis and a Glass Man." Joey said, picking up the remains of a few of his own cards. "I'm not him. Doesn't matter who it is, I couldn't do that to someone." He said staring at Serenity. "But... I guess... if he'd give this stuff up... I don't know. Just don't be gross." He turned and folded his arms across his chest, but was dragged to the side as Serenity grabbed him and hugged him.

"I love you big brother."

"Yeah yeah yeah." She had gotten her way. He didn't have to be happy about it.

* * *

><p>Two more days passed and Kaiba was feeling great. He just wanted to get up and move around now. He stretched in front of the window, looking out as people went along their ways then turned back to Serenity coming in to check on him for the morning.<p>

"How are you?"

"Good enough to beat that freak pokemon that thought it would be a good idea to whip a door at me." He said levelly. She liked his energy and that he had been back to his usual mind frame. She moved up to him and put a hand on his arm warmly.

"Don't overdo it ok?" She smiled up at him and he turned to her, running his hands down her arms smoothly. She leaned up to him, curling her hand into his jacket and he lowered his lips to hers.

"Ew." Joey's voice stated plainly from the door. The two stopped, Kaiba pulling back a bit and Serenity glancing over to her brother.

"Sorry..." She muttered. She enjoyed being able to be with Kaiba, even if her brother was constantly watching over her shoulder and making sure they didn't do anything too offensive.

"Where are you going?" Joey asked as Kaiba started out of the room.

"I'm going to check on my pokemon." He said simply. They had been on his mind and though Serenity brought them in to see him from time to time, only the little ones were allowed in. He made his way to the shore and Serenity and Joey followed him, Serenity to make sure nothing went wrong, and Joey out of boredom and the 'need' to watch his sister.

Once they made it to the wide open ocean Kaiba took a deep breath and brought out his two pokeballs. Not a moment later his Gyarados and Lapras were rushing to greet him. He moved towards the waterline but Serenity stopped him, knowing the pokemon were able to creep up the shore and see him without the need for him to get wet.

He sighed and waited for them to greet him. He never liked being told what to do, but she only ever had the best intentions for him and did make sense. There was no use risking infection or reopening wounds when there were safer alternatives. The Gyarados happily nudged him, but to his surprise, the Lapras was far more enthusiastic about his presence.

A sudden shudder rocked the land and Kaiba glanced to the skies. There was no sign of the ice bird, and the people in town only briefly paused before returning to their usual day. About fifteen minutes passed before another shook them. Lapras wasn't happy about it, but Gyarados didn't seem to notice. Still Kaiba didn't like it.

"Hey, what is that?" He asked a random passerby.

"What? Oh, that's just the biker gangs causing problems on route eighteen. It's a bike only path and they think because they work together they can bully the other people trying to travel. We've told them to cut it out but they just don't seem to listen. They do what they want." He said, shaking his head. Serenity and Joey exchanged glances, wondering what they could do to help, but Kaiba already had an idea. He had been hoping to test out his pokemon's merits for some time now.

"Gyarados, Lapras, let's take a walk." He said, smirking as he recalled them.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Serenity asked, moving to his side as he walked towards the west exit of town.

"I'm going to go crazy just doing nothing. You're lucky you got two full days out of me." She knew it to be true. He hadn't complained or even tried something like this and it was probably torturing him. She smiled, determined to stick with him and fight on next to him.

"Uh, Sir, you need a bicycle to get-" One of the men at the route stations tried, attempting to stop him.

"Can it, I'm cleaning up the trash." Kaiba said, not bothering to look in their direction. Serenity bowed politely, hoping they wouldn't mind while Joey moved to talk to them.

"Hey, sorry, we're just trying to help... stop the biker gangs from messin with people." He said. The two men inside glanced at each other and then back to Joey.

"Well, we don't usually let people in without a bike. It tends to get dangerous if you don't have one. Everyone else has them and may not be able to adjust to the speed difference." He warned.

"Gotcha, we'll be careful." Joey promised, waving as he jogged to catch up to Kaiba and Serenity. As he neared them he noticed they were already getting into it with some chain covered biker guy.

"What do you mean back off? You're not even supposed to be here without a bike." The man said, looking them over. He glanced down at Serenity and smirked. "Though I guess I don't mind if you're gonna be walking around here." He said, reaching out to play with a strand of her hair. Before he could actually touch her, Kaiba's hand was on his wrist and his body between them.

"I wouldn't if you value your hand." There was venom in his voice and death in his eyes. It calmed him that Serenity moved closer to him, holding his jacket as she nuzzled into him.

"Ah, your little girlfriend is she?" The biker said, whipping himself out of Kaiba's grasp. "Well see after she see's me and my pokemon destroy you!" He pulled a ball from his pocket and sent out a familiar type of pokemon. It was one of the ones Team Rocket used often, the large floating mine, Coffing. Kaiba smirked. Pathetic. He had fought many of them. He glanced to the side and noted the waters edge just barely below the bridge.

"Lets see, I'm thinking... the first one I've ever gotten. Charmander." He said, letting out the little one to test it's strength. The biker nearly laughed his head off.

"What do you think this little lizard is going to be able to do?" He said through his peels of laughter.

"I don't know, why don't you show him?" The little fire lizard puffed up, obviously ready for a fight and started off twirling a fire stream around the smoking ball. Some of the puffs of smoke ignited briefly, but overall the move did minimal damage. It looked scary enough, but the pokemon didn't seem to be injured. Kaiba deflated a little, but the lizard looked proud.

"Hah, that's nothing. Slam that pip squeak Coffing." The man ordered, but the second the pokemon moved, it was burnt again by the vortex that still held itself around it. Still it was able to sweep down at the little lizard, angered by the fire now following it around. Kaiba's Charmander deftly dodged left then circled the ball.

"Aim for the smoke coming out of it." Kaiba commanded calmly. The lizard shot another blast of fire, this one more concentrated and powerful than the last. It hit it's mark, causing a series of small explosions and finally the pokemon seemed to expand, then deflate, completely worn from the heat and damage it had taken.

"N-No... How...It... It doesn't matter, Get them, Sandshrew!" He tossed out the little hedgehog pokemon and Joey stepped up.

"Huh, you got one too do you?" He said stepping up and pulling out a ball of his own. "My turn Kaiba." He tossed over his shoulder. Kaiba could only nod and step back. It didn't take long for Joey's own Sandshrew to take it's place in front of him and ready itself for battle. The man twitched a little, noticing the difference in the size of the two pokemon. Joey's was obviously bigger, therefore more powerful, but the biker didn't want this to be over quite yet.

"Size doesn't matter. It's how you use them." He said unsteadily.

"Hah, one, that's what she said, and two, I don't use my pokemon. We work together. Tackle that brat." Joey's Sandshrew moved first, jumping forward and ramming itself towards the smaller one.

"Agility, make sure he cant hit you!" The smaller one dodged, then again and again. A few minutes passed and Joey was beginning to get aggravated.

"Come on, get him. Scratch at him. Headbutt him... do something..." Joey tried, but the little one was just too fast.

"Good job Sandshrew, now, scratch him!" The biker commanded and Joey's little pokemon took the hit. It didn't seem to hurt, but it, as well as Joey were pissed that the opponent could strike him, but he wasn't able to strike the opponent back.

"Need some help?" Kaiba offered, but Joey growled and ignored him.

"Sandshrew, get under him. You know what to do." He said, a smirk spreading across his face. Suddenly his hedgehog started to burrow under the earth and the opponent and it's human began to look around worriedly, wondering where the pokemon would pop up.

"S-Sandshrew, go... go lef-" It was too late. Joey's Sandshrew came up from under it, it's powerful claws striking from below and knocking the smaller one back hard. The thing was out cold and the biker was out of pokemon. "You... You..." He started, but Kaiba moved forward again.

"Just get yourself to a pokemon center and think twice before you start to bother people on this road again." He said, stepping back and allowing the man to pass through the guard post and into town where the nearest pokecenter was.

"This isn't the end..." He said as he passed him. He gave Serenity another look over before moving to the guard post.

"I could be worse... I could be that douche." Kaiba said as he turned back, aiming his comment towards Joey.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" A gruff man asked, hopping off his bike and turning to Kaiba and Joey. "That was my kid brother you guys were messing with." He said as he towered over both boys. He had a small group of men behind him and they all looked eager for conflict. Kaiba glanced back at Joey, and Joey looked ready to rumble.

"Your brother was torturing a child trying to cross the bridge." Kaiba pointed out, glancing over at a small boy off to the side of the road, who was still trying desperately to collect his dropped things and get back to his bike.

"It's our bridge the kid is on. Not my brother's fault the boy didn't know any better. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse." the big man said, cracking his knuckles.

"And let me guess, the ones with the most powerful pokemon make the rules right?" Kaiba said, holding each of the small pokeballs between his fingers as he readied himself.

"Please. You couldn't possibly believe your four little pokemon could take on all of ours." The man laughed.

"But it's not just his pokemon. It's mine too." Joey said, pulling out his four balls as well.

"And mine." Serenity said, moving between them and preparing herself.

"huh, we've never had a battle royale on the bridge before. Now you'll get to watch all of us destroy you at the same time. Saves time really." He said as his boys began to unhinge their pokemon.

"Shut up and lets do this." Joey said with a cocky grin. There was a bright flash of red and the area was swarmed with pokemon ready to brawl.

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**Woot! Battle on the bridge! Cant wait to write the next chappie! **

**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love Ya!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Just thought it would be funny to mention, as I started to write this story the song Bicycle Race by Queen came on and I giggled through out the entire thing. Ok, on with the story.**

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Chapter 17

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Coffing, Sandshrew and a number of grimy and blue humanoid pokemon littered the area around them as the three surveyed the enemy. The three glanced at each other and nodded, calling their own pokemon. The Lapras and Gyarados took up places on either edge of the bridge, in the waters just under it while Sandshrew, Vulpix, Pidgy, Spearow, Scyther, Rhyhorn, the two Charmanders, and Joey's newest pokemon, what he called Magmar created a defensive line.

The bikers glanced at each other, exchanging snickers and laughed, making Kaiba question exactly what they had in mind. They didn't have to wait to find out.

"Grimers, Muks, hold em down!" The lead demanded. The oozing pokemon rushed forth, flattening themselves and attempting to spread under the feet of every enemy in the area.

"Stop them, Gyarados!" Kaiba ordered. Giant bursts of water prayed and assaulted the slime pokemon, but to no real effect.

"Please, if a little water could wash these away, they'd never have been able to live in the sewers where we got them." One of the smaller members chuckled. The Grimers and Muks oozed closer and reached out for the first pokemon they could reach but as soon as they did a burst of ice shot out, freezing a good half of them and halting the rest. Everyone turned to see the Lapras, finishing it's attack then looking to Kaiba for approval. He smirked and nodded.

"They want containment of the area? Show em Charmander." Kaiba said darkly. Serenity noted how intimidating he was when he was fighting and thanked god that he was on their side.

"Get em Magmar." Joey added and Serenity smiled.

"Help em out, you know what to do." She said sweetly to her own fire pokemon. The Charmanders and Vulpix immediately started to circle the half frozen group, spreading a trail of flames as they did and beginning to trap the bikers while Joey's Magmar closed up the front. The Coffings and larger versions of the same started floating upwards, trying to escape the flames entrapment.

"Pidgy, don't let them out!" Serenity called, having the little bird swoop and knock back the gaseous balls as they attempted to get out. Kaiba's Spearow and Joey's Scyther joined her not long after, but they soon began to tire.

"Sandshrew, Rhyhorn, keep that fire under control!" Joey commanded and they started stomping and burying sections of the fire wall that got too high or seemed unmanageable.

" I don't think we can keep this up." Serenity said worriedly. "We're holding them off, but only barely." She looked up at Kaiba for the next thing to do, but he only narrowed his eyes, struggling to think of where to go from there. Before the idea came to him, the bikers took their next move. One of the Coffings gathered air and blew it's smog out through the flame wall, striking down Joey's Scyther with a dead hit. The thing was down and wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

Serenity called back her little Pidgy, and Kaiba his Spearow, but the things wouldn't listen. They just continued to try to keep the creatures contained. They ducked and dodged several blasts, scorching the tips of their wings and their tails, but just barely missing excessive damage. It didn't look good.

"Gyarados, Lapras, help keep the skies contained. Charmander, get that bird brain down here!" Kaiba commanded to all of his pokemon as Joey recalled his Scyther before it could get even farther injured. Powerful blasts of water started batting around the pokemon trying to escape as Charmander squawked angrily at the disobedient bird.

Serenity glanced down at her own pokemon, Ember and Vulpix fighting to return blasts of fire through the wall of flames that they were getting from the smoke pokemon, and Pidgy struggling to keep the offending pokemon from breaking out of the vortex. She didn't know what to tell them. Didn't have a strategy or plan. She wasn't like Kaiba. Her brain just didn't work that fast. Soon her Vulpix moved back, the Charmander handling the scene before them better than it did and looked to Serenity for it's next order.

She didn't know what to tell it. Even her brother was shouting orders and helping everything. He was being useful and all she was doing was following their lead. She glanced over at Kaiba who was completely in his element and wished she had his streng-

Out of the flames charged a large humanoid pokemon. It's skin was blue and it looked like a massive body builder. It was headed right for Kaiba, but he was turned to his Gyarados, commanding it. She didn't think. She couldn't. She didn't have time to think. She just rushed as fast as her legs could carry and knocked into him from the side, shoving him out of the way and landed atop him as the pokemon charged past them and stumbled down.

Kaiba looked up at her for a moment before realizing what she had done and glancing over to the pokemon that almost hit him. The thing had gotten back up and turned it's focus onto the small fire fox nearby.

"Serenity!" Kaiba called for her as she lifted herself from him.

"No! Vulpix!" She cried, trying to rush towards it, but Kaiba grabbed her.

"Are you insane, that thing can break you!" He said, but she wouldn't stop. The big blue pokemon was over the little red one, punching and hitting it with it's brutish strength. Serenity cried again for it to stop and a sudden fiery blast to it's face made that very thing happen. Her Charmander drew it's attention as Kaiba's Spearow and her Pidgy flew down from overhead, finally leaving the floating pokemon to the Gyarados and Lapras.

Kaiba released Serenity and she ran to her little forgotten fox, cuddling it as she pulled it out of reach. Kaiba put a hand on her shoulder as she brushed away a tear and put it back in it's ball. He looked over at the pokemon that had escaped the fire barricade and watched as the two small birds did an astonishing amount of damage to the strong arm pokemon. It didn't take long for them to knock the thing out.

"All at once now!" They heard a biker call and suddenly there was a tremor as pokemon burst through the flames. The number of them was significantly smaller but still threatening. Kaiba and Serenity's Charmanders made attempts to flank and fire blast their opponents while Joey's Rhyhorn wrestled another back into the flame sphere. His Sandshrew immediately busied itself with fighting off a smaller blue strong arm pokemon and the birds started diving at anything they could reach. Soon, they were all out of breath, but there were clear winners.

Kaiba was forced to withdraw his Lapras after two of the floating pokemon made it over to it. He knew it was a rather fragile thing and didn't want it hurt. His Gyarados though, was proving just as tough and stubborn as it looked. It might take orders from him and always want to be around him, but when it came down to it, this dragon was powerful. A blinding white flash captured the three's attention and drew their eyes downward. Their pokemon, or a few of them, were glowing.

"What... What's happening?" Serenity asked, not sure whether to run to them or to move away from them, but Joey just smirked.

"They're getting stronger." He said happily. Kaiba and Serenity glanced over to him while he just crossed his arms in front of himself.

"What?" Kaiba asked, looking back at his Spearow and Charmander.

"Yeah, this happened to Mai's little bug pokemon. It glowed white then turned into a moth. Ever since then it's been stronger." He said as they began to grow and change. When the lights faded the Pidgy was a bit bigger and had a longer tail and head feathers. Kaiba's Spearow, on the other hand, was gigantic. It's beak was long and sharp and it had a long bent neck. The thing was enormous.

They saw the Charmanders next, larger and darker... like many of the bigger lizards they saw on the mountain... But that wasn't all they saw on the mountain... Those dragons. If his little bird could get that large from this transformation, maybe these little lizards could end up being like those dragons. Kaiba smirked at the thought of having another dragon. Joey stood proudly over his Sandshrew, now much more fierce looking. It had large brown scale spines coming out the back of it and longer sharper claws.

"Hey, Guys!" Their attention was drawn to the North as they saw a few familiar faces approaching them. "This road is dangerous without a bike. The town will let you borrow some if you want, but we gotta give them back before moving on." Yugi said as he sped over to them. They were each on bikes and seemed a little out of breath.

"What happened to you?" Kaiba asked Mokuba as he looked him over. The youth was covered in mud and his jeans were torn, but he didn't seem to have suffered any real injuries.

"Some guy pushed me over. We beat him and all of his friends!" He said excitedly. Kaiba looked to the others for confirmation and the rest of them just nodded along.

"We got into a little tiff here too." Serenity added quietly.

"Little tiff?" Kaiba asked, glancing back at her. "We practically had a free for all. But it was no problem." He said smugly.

"Yeah, we kicked their asses." Joey glanced down at the pokeball his Scyther was in and sighed. "But I think we need a pokemon center. I know I do at least." Serenity nodded, noting her beaten Vulpix and looked to Kaiba. He simply started back to town, satisfied that he knew the power of his pokemon. Also, he had thoroughly tired himself out, the strain of battling wearing on his not fully healed body. They waited at the pokemon center while the nurses took care of their fallen friends and afterward all decided to have a picnic. Kaiba would have preferred to stay inside, and though Serenity offered to stay back with him, he knew she wanted to go.

"What's the harm?" He said flatly. Before she could argue his side for him, he brushed past her, leading the group to a field just to the east of them. There was a long road and a few people scattered down the length of it. Some were battling, others were bicycling and some were just taking a breather. It seemed like a nice stretch of land.

"So... what do we do about the crazy ass freak that's trying to kill us?" Joey asked, sitting himself between Tristan and Serenity.

"Not our problem. We just have to get home." Kaiba said grabbing a piece of strange fruit and wondering if he should bite it or peel it.

"But, it wants to commit genocide on the human race." Serenity pointed out, a little off put at his attitude.

"Here maybe, but not home."

"I cant let that happen." Yugi said, just staring off into the grass. "What if that pokemon is successful, then finds a way back to Domino? Even if it doesn't, I cant just sit by while innocent people are hurt and hunted. It's not right."

"You're too soft Yugi." Kaiba said looking the boy over.

"No, Seto. I agree. People are going to suffer, and we may be the only ones that have seen this pokemon." Serenity tried again. He looked at her for a moment, not wanting to side with her on this one, but he couldn't deny her intentions were noble.

"I don't want to risk Mokuba. Or you." He said quietly. Everyone silenced themselves, still not used to Kaiba's feelings being an open thing now.

"That's sweet, but it's not up to you. You can leave. Take Mokuba. I'm staying. At least until that pokemon either gives up or is forced to stop." He didn't like her method of negotiation. She was winning. She was in favor of putting herself in danger and he didn't think he would ever be alright with that. The only thing he could do is stand by her and protect her as best he could. He just couldn't help the feeling that he had gotten himself into one sticky situation.

"I'm not leaving without you."

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**Sorry it took so long to post. My computer was sent to the shop and has gotten a complete makeover. I love my new operating system. It's so smooth and fast. ^.^ and not windows vista anymore. **

**Read, Review, Enjoy~Love Ya**


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